PLate OPtimizer
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This article is about the CAD program, PLOP. For the computer language conference group, PLoP, see Pattern Languages of Programs.
PLate OPtimizer, or PLOP is a CAD program used by amateur telescope makers to design primary mirror support cells for reflecting telescopes. It was developed by telescope maker David Lewis, first described in 1999,[1] and used to simplify calculations needed in the design of mirror support cells.[2] It was based on Toshimi Taki's 1993 program PLATE,[3] with a simplified user interface, thus giving it wide acceptance among makers of large Dobsonian style amateur telescopes, with good support of mirrors as thin as two inches for a diameter of thirty inches.[4]