diff --git a/sealrtc/optics/__init__.py b/sealrtc/optics/__init__.py
index 1d94b52..c723cd7 100644
--- a/sealrtc/optics/__init__.py
+++ b/sealrtc/optics/__init__.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ def make_optics():
 		mode = "simulation"
 
 	print(f"SEAL Real-Time Controller running in {mode} mode.")
+	return optics
 
 from .flatten import flatten
 from .align import align
diff --git a/sealrtc/optics/align.py b/sealrtc/optics/align.py
index 708b98c..a91b43d 100644
--- a/sealrtc/optics/align.py
+++ b/sealrtc/optics/align.py
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ def applytiptilt(amptip,amptilt,bestflat=bestflat): #amp is the P2V in DM units
 	cenmaskradmax, cenmaskradmin = 49, 10 #mask radii for central lobe, ignoring central part where the pinhole PSF is (if not ignored, this would bias the alignment algorithm)   
 	cenmaskind = np.where(
 		np.logical_and(
-			cenmaskrho < cenmaskradmax,cenmaskrho > cenmaskradmin
+			cenmaskrho < cenmaskradmax,
+			cenmaskrho > cenmaskradmin
 		)
 	)
 	cenmask[cenmaskind] = 1
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ def applytiptilt(amptip,amptilt,bestflat=bestflat): #amp is the P2V in DM units
 			cenfraction=np.sum(mtfopt[cenmaskind])/np.sum(mtfopt)
 			ttoptarr[i,j]=sidefraction+0.1/cenfraction #the factor of 0.01 is a relative weight; because we only expect the fringe visibility to max out at a few %, this attempts to give equal weight to both terms 
 
-	medttoptarr = median_filter(ttoptarr, 3) #smooth out hot pizels, attenuating noise issues
+	medttoptarr = median_filter(ttoptarr, 3) #smooth out hot pixels, attenuating noise issues
 	indopttip, indopttilt = np.where(
 		medttoptarr == np.max(medttoptarr)
 	)
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ def applytiptilt(amptip,amptilt,bestflat=bestflat): #amp is the P2V in DM units
 			cenfraction = np.sum(mtfopt[cenmaskind])/np.sum(mtfopt)
 			ttoptarr1[i,j] = sidefraction+0.1/cenfraction 
 
-	medttoptarr1 = median_filter(ttoptarr1, 3) #smooth out hot pizels, attenuating noise issues
+	medttoptarr1 = median_filter(ttoptarr1, 3) #smooth out hot pixels, attenuating noise issues
 	indopttip1, indopttilt1 = np.where(medttoptarr1 == np.max(medttoptarr1))
 	applytiptilt(tipamparr[indopttip1][0],tiltamparr[indopttilt1][0])
 
diff --git a/sealrtc/optics/flatten.py b/sealrtc/optics/flatten.py
index 6e22d8a..002854c 100644
--- a/sealrtc/optics/flatten.py
+++ b/sealrtc/optics/flatten.py
@@ -127,10 +127,10 @@ def vcmd(rcond): #view the reconstructed DM commands, making sure that waffle mo
 		#ds9.view(np.flipud(cmd.reshape(dmcini.shape)))
 
 	#reference slopes from commented out code above preamble
-	refslopes=np.load(joindata('refslopes/refSlopes4ALPAOflat.npy'))
+	refslopes=np.load(joindata("refslopes", "refSlopes4ALPAOflat.npy"))
 
 	rcond=3e-1
-	cmd_mtx=np.linalg.pinv(IM,rcond=rcond)
+	cmd_mtx = np.linalg.pinv(IM, rcond=rcond)
 	numiter=20 #convergence seems around this many iterations for a gain of 0.5
 	gain=0.5
 	leak=1
diff --git a/sealrtc/optics/optics.py b/sealrtc/optics/optics.py
index ed977d5..affb8db 100644
--- a/sealrtc/optics/optics.py
+++ b/sealrtc/optics/optics.py
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ def set_process_vars(self):
 		for (i, (n, m)) in enumerate(nmarr):
 			self.zernarr[i] = self.funz(n, m)[self.indap]
 	
-
 		self.make_im_cm()
 		
 	def processim(self, imin): #process SCC image, isolating the sidelobe in the FFT and IFFT back to the image