Ultra-miniature omni-directional camera for an autonomous flying micro-robot

Abstract

CSEM presents a highly integrated ultra-miniature camera module with omni-directional view dedicated to autonomous micro flying devices. Very tight design and integration requirements (related to size, weight, and power consumption) for the optical, microelectronic and electronic components are fulfilled. The presented ultra-miniature camera platform is based on two major components: a catadioptric lens system and a dedicated image sensor. The optical system consists of a hyperbolic mirror and an imaging lens. The vertical field of view is +10° to -35°.The CMOS image sensor provides a polar pixel field with 128 (horizontal) by 64 (vertical) pixels. Since the number of pixels for each circle is constant, the unwrapped panoramic image achieves a constant resolution in polar direction for all image regions. The whole camera module, delivering 40 frames per second, contains optical image preprocessing for effortless re-mapping of the acquired image into undistorted cylindrical coordinates. The total weight of the complete camera is less than 5 g. The system's outer dimensions are 14.4 mm in height, with a 11.4 mm x 11.4 mm foot print. Thanks to the innovative PROGLOG^TM, a dynamic range of over 140 dB is achieved.