PRODUCTS Image sensors


Omnidirectional time- of-flight sensor to open up robotics use A new time-of-flight depth sensor with a field of view of 360° x 60° has been announced by Jabil Optics. Te omnidirectional sensor is


designed to support lower-cost autonomous mobile robots and collaborative robots. Jabil’s sensor combines a


custom optical assembly with an active illumination. In contrast to conventional time-of-flight cameras, the 360° field of view of Jabil’s sensor means all objects within a robot’s path can be tracked. Tis improves obstacle avoidance and worker safety. Additionally, its use of scene information to control illumination reduces sensor noise while improving data quality and power management. Te Jabil Optics team is


optimising the performance of the sensor to address the needs of the robotics industry. Ian Blasch, senior director of business development at Jabil Optics, said: ‘Our design goal is to provide customers with optimal sensor performance in the smallest, lowest cost and lowest power solution possible. Factors such as data formats, on-sensor processing and connectivity are moving targets in the quickly evolving robotics industry. Our beta- testing programme for the omnidirectional sensor will allow us to continue to collect targeted feedback from customers and partners in the robotics ecosystem.’ Donnacha O’Riordan, director


of Analog Devices, which assessed the omnidirectional sensor for use with mobile robots, said: ‘Jabil’s wide field-of- view depth-sensing approach is opening up new possibilities for human interaction with robots.’ With 170 employees across


four locations, Jabil Optics’ designers, engineers and researchers specialise in solving complex optical problems for customers in 3D sensing, augmented and virtual reality, action camera, automotive, industrial and healthcare markets. www.jabil.com


Sony releases event- based sensors with Prophesee Sony Semiconductor Solutions has announced the upcoming release of two types of stacked event-based vision sensors. Te industrial sensors, with a 4.86μm pixel pitch, are the result of work with Prophesee presented last year at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Te sensors have a dynamic


range of 86dB, and resolutions of 1,280 x 720 pixels (IMX636) and 640 x 512 pixels (IMX637). Event-based vision sensors


asynchronously detect luminance changes for each pixel and output the changed data. Tis is combined


Silina curves 275 CMOS sensors in world-first French start-up Silina has developed a technology that can curve hundreds of image sensors at the same time. In a world-first, Silina curved 275 units of one-inch CMOS sensors simultaneously in under an hour. A curved image sensor can improve image quality without expensive and complex lenses. However, until now, most curved sensors have been made with single-chip manufacturing processes. Silina’s multi-sensor curving processes open up the ability to scale and reach high- volume markets. Wilfried Jahn, CTO and co-


founder of Silina, commented: ‘Our innovation has been driven to unlock the technological barriers of scalability. We can control all the parameters that make the process reliable and repeatable, reducing significantly the cost of production.’ Silina does not design or


manufacture image sensors, but offers a service to curve existing


40 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021


with information on pixel position (xy coordinates) and time, thereby enabling high-speed, low latency data output. Tis is different to standard


frame-based imaging, where the entire image is output at certain intervals determined by the frame rate. Te sensors are based on Sony’s stacked structure using Cu-Cu connection to achieve conduction between the pixel chip and the logic chip. Te logic chip is equipped with a signal processing circuit for detecting luminance changes for each pixel. Te sensors use event-filtering functions developed by Prophesee for eliminating unnecessary event data. Using these filters helps


flat sensors. Its curving process is the same whatever the sensor format and technology, notably CMOS and CCD. It can be applied to front- and back-side illuminated sensors, and on various spectral bandwidths, from ultraviolet to visible and infrared. Various shapes can be


obtained: spherical, aspherical, freeform and custom shapes. Te manufacturing process has also been developed to keep the same original packaging used for classic flat sensors, meaning the mechanical architecture and electronic board remain the same, facilitating the integration of the technology on current production lines. Michaël Bailly, the firm’s CEO and co-founder, said: ‘Our services are offered to optical system designers and manufacturers, camera integrators and sensor manufacturers to [help them improve] their imaging system while reducing their cost of production. Our offer is made of two propositions: a support in optical system design to integrate


eliminate events that aren’t needed for the recognition task, such as LED flickering (anti-flicker), as well as events that are highly unlikely to be the outline of a moving subject (event filter). Te filters also make it possible


to adjust the volume of data when necessary to ensure it falls below the event rate that can be processed in downstream systems (event rate control). Prophesee’s Metavision


Intelligence Suite is available for application development and provides solutions for various use cases. Prophesee has also released an evaluation kit for developing applications with the sensors. www.prophesee.ai


the curved sensor technology in their specific applications, and an on-demand service to curve their imaging sensors.’ Te company offers its services


for small-volume applications of several thousand sensors a year, according to Bailly in an article for Yole Développement. It plans to reach high-volume markets through IP licensing. In the article, Bailly said by


curving the sensor, Silina can improve contrast and sharpness by up to five times at the image edge. Light transmission is up to three times better, offering higher performance in low light. Chromatic aberration is reduced by up to 50 per cent for better colour rendering and colour fidelity. Removing vignetting provides better illumination uniformity and better performance in low light. He added that there can be up


to 50 per cent reduction in the number of optical elements, such as lenses and mirrors, needed in a camera. silina-57.webselfsite.net


@imveurope | www.imveurope.com


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