# LensDesigner: A Self-Improving Agent for Optical Lens Design

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30450 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.30450/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 14 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 14 of 14)

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- [The Differentiable Lens: Compound Lens Search over Glass Surfaces and Materials for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.04441/) (2022)
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- [Neuro-inspired automated lens design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.09979/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Optical lens design is a complex, non-convex optimization challenge that relies heavily on human experience and intuition. Existing optimized-based automatic lens design methods struggle to navigate this vast parameter space without meticulous manual tuning. In this paper, we present LensDesigner, an autonomous agent framework that mirrors the problem-solving workflow of expert opticians. To overcome the initial cold start problem, we construct LensLib100K, an extensive optical lens library, and employ Optics-Aware Retrieval to supply physically valid structural seeds. Within an interactive physical simulation environment, the agent executes macroscopic orchestration while receiving immediate optical feedback. Furthermore, we introduce a continuous self-evolving mechanism guided by a curriculum agent. By iteratively solving design tasks with progressively increasing difficulty, the agent autonomously extracts, accumulates, and reuses design heuristics, effectively evolving its optical lens design expertise over time. At the evaluation level, we introduce LensArena, a standardized evaluation benchmark comprising 120 diverse optical design tasks, covering extreme configurations. Extensive experiments on this benchmark demonstrate that LensDesigner significantly outperforms publicly available baseline algorithms, achieving superior success rates and optimization efficiency. We hope this work sheds light on the emerging field of intelligent optics. The code will be publicly available.