News
Optical metasurfaces create tiny polarisation camera
Scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a compact snapshot polarisation camera based on diffraction gratings containing nanoscale structures. The camera is able to acquire images of the full polarisation state at each pixel, with no traditional polarisation optics and no moving parts.
The work, published in Science, uses diffraction gratings with dielectric metasurfaces, in which the nanoscale structures on the surface of the gratings give tuneable polarisation control. The grating is flat and monolithically integrated into the imaging system. The researchers named remote
sensing, atmospheric science, machine vision, and onboard autonomous vehicles as areas where the polarisation camera might be used, and where complexity of current systems might otherwise be prohibitive. As reported by Harvard SEAS,
the device is about 2cm in length; with an attached lens and protective case, the device is about the size of a small lunch box. ‘This technology could be integrated into existing imaging systems, such as the one in your cell phone or car, enabling the widespread adoption of polarisation imaging and new applications previously unforeseen,’ said Noah Rubin, first author of the paper.
Graphene sensor at Laser Munich to lower cost of SWIR imaging
G
raphene Flagship partner Emberion launched a VIS-SWIR graphene photodetector at Laser World of
Photonics. Te technology was shortlisted for an innovation award at the Munich trade fair in June. Te linear array covers a wide spectral
range, detecting wavelengths from the visible at 400nm into the shortwave infrared up to 1,800nm. Traditionally, it would require both silicon and InGaAs sensors to image across this wavelength range. Emberion estimates that replacing a system
using silicon and InGaAs sensors with its graphene photodetector would result in a 30 per cent cost reduction. Emberion receives funding from the EU
research initiative, the Graphene Flagship programme. Its photodetectors combine graphene transistors with a light absorbing layer. Food inspection, plastic sorting in recycling, authentication of pharmaceutical products, agricultural field analysis, and non-invasive medical imaging are among the potential uses for this product. Te detector cannot compete with silicon
CMOS for visible light detection, Dr Vuokko Lantz, product manager at Emberion, explained, but to extend into the shortwave infrared, the graphene photodetector becomes ‘a very interesting alternative’. She added: ‘Our detector can offer similar
performance to InGaAs in the near and shortware infrared region, and we outperform InGaAs in the visible region.’ Tapani Ryhänen, CEO of Emberion, said:
‘Providing broad spectrum capabilities, without the expense of traditional InGaAs sensors, the VIS-SWIR graphene photodetector provides a digital output using Emberion’s in-house designed read out circuits – without the need to translate analogue data with additional components.’ Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from Nokia
Technologies, Emberion’s VIS-SWIR graphene photodetector launch at LWP precedes more announcements at Graphene Week in Helsinki from 23 to 27 September. Another firm shortlisted in the imaging and
sensors category of LWP’s innovation award was SWIR Vision Systems. Its quantum dot SWIR sensor also lowers the cost of SWIR imaging, compared to InGaAs sensors.
Machine vision sales up in first quarter 2019 By Thomas Lübkemeier, general manager, EMVA
Machine vision sales in Europe increased in the first quarter of 2019, with total turnover going up by three per cent compared to the last quarter of 2018 and by 16 per cent compared to the first quarter 2018. This is one of the key results of the EMVA quarterly machine vision sales report. Sales of machine vision systems rose 21 per cent year-on-year. The full report is available to all contributing companies.
Intel to give keynote at Embedded Vision Europe David Austin, senior principal engineer at Intel, will give insights into flexible and practical AI for industrial deployment in his keynote at the second Embedded Vision Europe conference. The event will be held on 24 and 25 October at the ICS International Congress Center Stuttgart, Germany. He will address the challenge that industrial
8 Imaging and Machine Vision Europe • August/September 2019
AI-based solutions often struggle to keep up with the state-of-the-art. This is because of the nature of product development and validation cycles, versus the speed at which the AI technology and understanding is advancing. It doesn’t need to be this way. Careful consideration of a few important AI and computer vision tools and techniques can give big benefits relative to the pool of available
options. More information on the conference programme and how to register can be found at www.embedded-
vision-emva.org. Also in October, and hosted by the EMVA is the International Vision Standards Meeting. Standardisation experts from the industry will meet in Italy to discuss the status of machine vision standardisation and adapt standards to future needs.
New members In the first half of the year, the EMVA has welcomed German-based iiM as a new member. The company is a specialist in the field of optical measurement engineering and lighting systems for machine vision. Cogniac, from California, which specialises in bringing the power of deep learning and computer vision to enterprises, has also joined EMVA.
@imveurope
www.imveurope.com
Emberion
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 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
