VISION AWARD


Photoneo wins Vision Award for 3D structured light tech


Te PhoXi 3D camera is able to image moving objects in 3D


S


lovakian 3D imaging firm Photoneo has won the Vision Award innovation prize at the Vision trade fair in Stuttgart, held


from 6 to 8 November. Te company’s PhoXi 3D camera, which is


based on structured light, is able to achieve resolution and precision ten times higher than competing technologies, according to Photoneo. Gabriele Jansen, managing director of M&A


consulting firm Vision Ventures and member of the Vision Award jury, commented that Photoneo’s 3D camera addresses the need for ‘high accuracy, snapshot, [3D] area scan of large work areas in motion’, calling the camera ‘a unique product’. Photoneo was selected as the winner from


a shortlist of seven that included the Austrian Institute of Technology, Basler, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Fujifilm Optical Devices Europe, Prophesee, and SWIR Vision Systems. Imaging and Machine Vision Europe is proud to sponsor the €5,000 prize. Founded in 2013, Photoneo now has


80 employees. Its parallel-structured light technology is based on a custom CMOS sensor, called a mosaic sensor, in which every pixel is programmable. Te sensor is able to capture multiple images


of structured light in parallel, rather than sequentially as is the case with conventional CMOS imagers. It’s this parallel operation that allows the sensor to image moving


Photoneo was presented with the award during the exhibitor party at Vision 2018


objects, something that’s not possible with depth imaging using standard structure light projection. In snapshot mode, the PhoXi camera


can capture 1,068 x 800 resolution at 60fps. Te per-pixel exposure of the projection is 10μs, which ensures no motion blur. Tese points are interpolated from around 500,000 individual measurements, and the typical standard deviation of z-noise at 1m distance is less than 0.5mm. Te sensor uses 4.5 pixels per 3D measurement with sub-pixel accuracy coding, which gives a high XYZ resolution. Speaking to Imaging and Machine Vision


Europe at the trade fair, Tomas Kovacovsky, CTO of Photoneo, said the sensor could potentially run at 150fps using a more powerful light source. Te camera is also able to operate in


scanning mode for static scenes. Here, the sensor returns a raw output of 1,602 x 1,200 individual measurements. It fuses together 120 snapshot images in real time to give a high- resolution image. Kovacovsky listed potential applications


The PhoXi 3D camera features ambient light suppression for working under different lighting conditions


for the technology as ranging from robot guidance, to palletising, to making 3D measurements from a drone, something that


10 Imaging and Machine Vision Europe • December 2018/January 2019


The firm’s mosaic sensor is


reprogrammable and can therefore be used for various different applications


the technology can do due to its ability to deal with motion. Photoneo’s technology also features ambient


light suppression, for which the firm has a patent, and which Kovacovsky stressed is what makes the PhoXi camera so attractive for 3D imaging. He said: ‘We believe we can handle direct sunlight.’ Te ambient light suppression works in


sync with the projector and the sensor to control light sensitivity at the sensor surface. Te camera’s control circuit can disable 99 per cent of the sensor, so that it doesn’t collect photoelectrons from optical inter-reflections. Tis effectively suppresses the ambient light of any source by a ratio of 1:100. Kovacovsky said the firm’s mosaic sensor is


reprogrammable and can be used for various applications. He noted Photoneo is talking to potential partners about how these companies could make use of Photoneo’s sensor. O


@imveurope www.imveurope.com


Photoneo


Messe Stuttgart


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36