Illumination Problem 2027
Étendue’s final battle: Can you focus all the power onto his wand and take him out once and for all?
Submissions due by April 1, 2027
The final match
After wrestling étendue for longer than you can remember, you meet him for one final battle. You come prepared: You use your new laser wand upgrade to send a powerful, perfectly collimated beam toward his wand to take it out once and for all. Unfortunately, evil Étendue expected this, and came with the same upgrade. The power from your two beams meet in the middle and magically form an intensely glowing ring situated in a ball of smoke.
Luckily you come prepared with your optical design skills and one last mirror-forming spell. Can you use it to win this battle once and for all?
Background
This competition is a collaboration between the International Optical Design Conference (IODC) and the Nonimaging Optics Conference. It is part of IODC’s long-running tradition of illumination design problems (previously in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2023) as well as the Nonimaging Optics Conference’s tradition of running design competitions (previously in 2025 and 2026).
Prepare for the battle
Read the complete story and specifications, then evaluate your mirror geometry.