Miniature optoelectronic compound eye camera

Abstract

Inspired by insect compound eyes (CEs) that feature unique optical schemes for imaging, there has recently been growing interest in developing optoelectronic CE cameras with comparable size and functions. However, considering the mismatch between the complex 3D configuration of CEs and the planar nature of available imaging sensors, it is currently challenging to reach this end. Here, we report a paradigm in miniature optoelectronic integrated CE camera by manufacturing polymer CEs with 19~160 logarithmic profile ommatidia via femtosecond laser two-photon polymerization. In contrast to μ-CEs with spherical ommatidia that suffer from defocusing problems, the as-obtained μ-CEs with logarithmic ommatidia permit direct integration with a commercial CMOS detector, because the depth-of-field and focus range of all the logarithmic ommatidia are significantly increased. The optoelectronic integrated μ-CE camera enables large field-of-view imaging (90°), spatial position identification and sensitive trajectory monitoring of moving targets. Moreover, the miniature μ-CE camera can be integrated with a microfluidic chip and serves as an on-chip camera for real-time microorganisms monitoring. The insect-scale optoelectronic μ-CE camera provides a practical route for integrating well-developed planar imaging sensors with complex micro-optics elements, holding great promise for cutting-edge applications in endoscopy and robot vision.

Biomimetic Compound Eyes with Gradient Ommatidium Arrays

“…The gradient compound eye proposed in this study has more than 1100 ommatidia focused on the same plane by virtue of the gradual ommatidium focal length, which increases the number of ommatidia for matching planar photoreceptors by a factor of 10 or even tens. Some excellent work has been done to develop artificial compound eyes with mutated ommatidium structures or special ommatidium profiles through advanced processing techniques or flexible manufacturing strategies, , all aimed at improving the compatibility of curved compound eyes with planar photoreceptors, but challenges such as significant reduction in the number of ommatidia or reduction in the compactness of compound eyes still exist. A large number of gradient ommatidia are closely arranged in a honeycomb pattern on the surface of the compound eye, allowing the compound eye to achieve the continuous change of focal length.…”

“…However, existing artificial compound eyes are mostly homogeneous in structure, making more ommatidia on the compound eye surface focus to one plane remains a challenge. Although some excellent strategies have proposed compound eyes with specially contoured ommatidia or optical waveguides, , expensive devices, decreased compactness, or reduced number of ommatidia may hinder the deepening of the application potential of artificial compound eyes. In recent years, there have been some new methods to prepare compound eye replicas easily and quickly; , limited by the very small depth of focus of ommatidium, it is still difficult to match the above thousand ommatidia with planar sensors.…”

MXene based flexible photodetectors: progress, challenges, and opportunities

“…104–106 Artificial neuromorphic vision electric devices usually consist of an image sensor array and neuromorphic units, realizing the reception, transformation, and acceptance of light information. 107–109 To optimize the artificial neuromorphic vision network, an image sensor array constructed by multi-pixel photodetectors is used as the pre-processing system to achieve photoelectric conversion. 110–112 Our group 57 designed a flexible artificial neuromorphic vision system to realize the photoelectric signal conversion, image learning, training, and recognition, as shown in Fig.…”

Image reconstruction for the artificial compound eye based on deep learning

“…[4][5][6] Many researchers have attempted to replicate this structure in various ways, including simulating compound eyes with computers 7 and implementing real optical devices. [8][9][10] These artificial compound eyes have a range of potential, including use as digital cameras on microrobots, motion detection, endoscopy, and image-guided surgery. [8][9][10] However, the apposition compound eye has a lower spatial resolution compared to vertebrate eyes due to its optical structure, [11][12][13] and achieving a comparable level of resolution would require an impractical design.…”

“…[8][9][10] These artificial compound eyes have a range of potential, including use as digital cameras on microrobots, motion detection, endoscopy, and image-guided surgery. [8][9][10] However, the apposition compound eye has a lower spatial resolution compared to vertebrate eyes due to its optical structure, [11][12][13] and achieving a comparable level of resolution would require an impractical design. 12 Despite the development of artificial compound eyes that exploit the structural benefits of the compound eye, the limitation of the low spatial resolution remains.…”