Hardware Architecture and Cutting-Edge Assembly Process of a Tiny Curved Compound Eye

Archive ouverte

Viollet, Stéphane | Godiot, Stéphanie | Leitel, Robert | Buss, Wolfgang | Breugnon, Patrick | Menouni, Mohsine | Juston, Raphaël | Expert, Fabien | Colonnier, Fabien | L'Eplattenier, Geraud | Brueckner, Andreas | Kraze, Felix | Mallot, Hanspeter | Franceschini, Nicolas | Pericet-Camara, Ramon | Ruffier, Franck | Floreano, Dario

Edité par CCSD ; MDPI -

International audience. The demand for bendable sensors increases constantly in the challenging field of soft and micro-scale robotics. We present here, in more detail, the flexible, functional, insect-inspired curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) that was previously introduced in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS, 2013). This cylindrically-bent sensor with a large panoramic field-of-view of 180 degrees x 60 degrees composed of 630 artificial ommatidia weighs only 1.75 g, is extremely compact and power-lean (0.9 W), while it achieves unique visual motion sensing performance (1950 frames per second) in a five-decade range of illuminance. In particular, this paper details the innovative Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) sensing layout, the accurate assembly fabrication process, the innovative, new fast read-out interface, as well as the auto-adaptive dynamic response of the CurvACE sensor. Starting from photodetectors and microoptics on wafer substrates and flexible printed circuit board, the complete assembly of CurvACE was performed in a planar configuration, ensuring high alignment accuracy and compatibility with state-of-the art assembling processes. The characteristics of the photodetector of one artificial ommatidium have been assessed in terms of their dynamic response to light steps. We also characterized the local auto-adaptability of CurvACE photodetectors in response to large illuminance changes: this feature will certainly be of great interest for future applications in real indoor and outdoor environments.

Suggestions

Du même auteur

Miniature curved artificial compound eyes.

Archive ouverte | Floreano, Dario | CCSD

International audience. In most animal species, vision is mediated by compound eyes, which offer lower resolution than vertebrate single-lens eyes, but significantly larger fields of view with negligible distortion ...

Curved artificial compound-eyes for autonomous navigation

Archive ouverte | Leitel, Robert | CCSD

Micro-Optics, Brussels, BELGIUM, APR 14-16, 2014. International audience. Natural compound-eyes consist of a large number of ommatidia that are arranged on curved surfaces and thus are able to detect signals from a ...

A small-scale hyperacute compound eye featuring active eye tremor: application to visual stabilization, target tracking, and short-range odometry

Archive ouverte | Colonnier, Fabien | CCSD

International audience. In this study, a miniature artificial compound eye (15 mm in diameter) called the curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) was endowed for the first time with hyperacuity, using similar micro...

Chargement des enrichissements...