Local and global surface errors evaluation using Ronchi test, without both approximation and integration.

We have reproduced quantitatively the technique commonly used in optical shop to evaluate surface error from comparison between experimental and simulated Ronchigrams. We used this procedure to evaluate, from Ronchigrams of any number of fringes, the curvature radius and/or conic constant of conic surfaces. The error function is calculated without using integration (numerical or polynomial) so the corresponding problems were avoided. Furthermore, when the error function is described with cubic splines, then the local errors are very well reproduced, which is not the case with the polynomial description. We have described the error functions with conical surfaces or with cubic splines, and for the best reproduction of experimental Ronchigram we used genetic algorithms.