A New Dual Band Line Scan Camera for Rapid Inspection (original) (raw)
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Advanced infrared detectors for multimode active and passive imaging applications
SPIE Proceedings, 2008
Active systems, using a near-infrared pulse laser and a fast, gated detector, are now adopted for most long range imaging applications. This concept is often called laser-gated imaging (LGI) or burst-illumination LIDAR (BIL). The SELEX solid state detector is based on an array of HgCdTe avalanche photodiodes, and a custom-designed CMOS multiplexer to perform the fast gating and photon signal capture. This paper describes two recent developments. The first is aimed at reducing the size, weight, power and cost of steerable platforms which often have to contain a large number of electrooptic tools such as lasers, range finders, BIL, thermal imaging and visible cameras. A dual-mode infrared detector has been developed with the aim of shrinking the system to one camera. The detector can be switched to operate as a passive thermal imager, a laser-gated imager or a solar flux imager. The detector produces a sensitivity in the MW thermal band of 16-18mK and a sensitivity in the BIL mode as low as 10 photons rms, in other words close to the performance of dedicated imagers. A second development was to extend the current BIL capability to 3D. In complex scenes, with camouflage and concealment, the ability to generate 3D images provides a signal-to-clutter advantage. Also in airborne applications, especially, it is useful to have 3D information to provide agile, feedback control of the range gating in a dynamic environment. This report describes the development of the 3D detector and camera, and the results of field trials using a prototype system.
Advanced imaging sensors at Rockwell Scientific Company
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The past 2 to 3 years has been a period of explosive growth in technology development for imaging sensors at Rockwell Scientific Co. (RSC). The state of the art has been advanced significantly, resulting in a number of unique advanced imaging sensor products. A few key examples are: 2048 x 2048 sensor chip assemblies (SCA) for ground and space-based applications, 4096 x 4096 mosaic close-butted mosaic FPA assemblies, a very high performance 10 x 1024 hybridized linear SCA for optical network monitoring and other applications, the revolutionary CMOS ProCam-HD imaging system-on-a-chip for high definition television (HDTV), and RSC's near-infrared emission microscope camera for VLSI defect detection/analysis. This paper provides selected updates of these products and thereby provides an overview of the ongoing highly fertile period of technology and product development at Rockwell Scientific. A view into future directions for advanced imaging sensors is also provided.
3D scanning characteristics of an amorphous silicon position sensitive detector array system
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The 3D scanning electro-optical characteristics of a data acquisition prototype system integrating a 32 linear array of 1D amorphous silicon position sensitive detectors (PSD) were analyzed. The system was mounted on a platform for imaging 3D objects using the triangulation principle with a sheet-of-light laser. New obtained results reveal a minimum possible gap or simulated defect detection of approximately 350 μm.
Instruments and Experimental Techniques, 2015
Application of the feature-oriented scanning (FOS) method intended for computer processing of the output optical image of an uncooled infrared focal plane array (FPA) of 32x32 elements is described. The FPA sensing elements are micromechanical bimaterial infrared (IR) detectors. The FPA under consideration is a microoptomechanical system (MOMS). Reading out the FPA optical image in visible spectral region is carried out by means of an optical profiler (interference microscope). The suggested method allows to exclude points from the output optical image, which do not carry useful information about the imaged IR-object, as well as to take into account artefacts introduced by the reading profiler. The method is suitable for determination of an array of correcting factors eliminating a non-uniform response of the FPA bimaterial detectors on input IR-radiation. The method can also be applied to automatic characterization of experimental MOMSs and for a spot-check outgoing inspection of commercial MOMSs.
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SPIE Proceedings, 2002
Imaging spectrometers allowing spatially resolved targets to be spectrally discriminated are valuable for remote sensing and defense applications. The drawback of such instruments is the need to quickly process very large amounts of data. In this paper we demonstrate two imaging systems which detect a dim target in a bright background, using the coherence contrast between them, generating much less data but only operating over a limited optical bandwidth. Both systems use a passband filter, a Michelson interferometer, coupling optics and a CCD camera. The first uses the interferometer in a spatial mode, by tilting one of the mirrors to create a set of line fringes on the CCD array. The visibility of these fringes is proportional to the degree of coherence. The interferogram is displayed spatially on the CCD array, as a function of the path differences. The second system uses the interferometer in a temporal mode. A coherent point target and an extended background are imaged through the interferometer onto the CCD array, and one of the interferometer's mirrors is scanned longitudinally to vary the path difference in time. In both cases the coherent target is detected over a large dynamic range down to negative signal-to-background power ratios (in dB). The paper describes an averaging technique to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and correction techniques required to extract interferograms from the images. The spatial technique developed has the advantage of using no moving parts.
A 2×2k photo line sensor for high-speed applications
Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 2005
A bilinear line sensor with a spatial resolution of 2 Â 2048 pixels has been developed for highspeed imaging and applications in machine vision. The sensor delivers up to 320 Mpixels/s or 80,000 lines/s at the full resolution of 2 Â 2048 pixels using all eight analogue output channels and, hence, is one of the fastest line sensors worldwide. The programmable full-well capacity and signal-to-noise ratio can be traded off against noise performance for various application-specific performance requirements. Moreover, the sensor is largely programmable, providing for example numerous addressing modes and the capability of defining regions of interest. The modular architecture allows the sensor to be easily adapted/scaled to other chip sizes and sensor resolutions. The 2 Â 2k image sensor has been manufactured in a standard 0.5 mm mixed-signal CMOS technology. The present paper describes the architecture of this high-speed line sensor, as well as experimental results on the electro-optical performances. Finally, further developments or potential improvements are discussed. r
Integration of a dual-band IR data acquisition system using low-cost PV320 cameras
Infrared Technology and Applications XXXII, 2006
The Electrophysics PV320 is a broadband thermal imaging system with several attractive features including low cost (about USD 25K including optics and software), small size, uncooled operation with a BST sensor array, spectral response from 0.6 to 14 µm, easily interchangeable warm optics, and on board USB 2.0 digital video output. In this paper we describe the technical challenges that were involved in integrating together two copies of the PV320L2Z camera variant to create an experimental dual-band IR data acquisition system for measuring targets, backgrounds, and clutter. The PV320 manufacturer-supplied software includes a user friendly, all-in-one application as well as software development kits providing camera control routines that are callable from C++, Visual Basic, and LabView. While this software works well for operating a single PV320 camera, it does not provide any direct support for simultaneously imaging with multiple cameras. The main technical issues are that the base software driver can connect to only one camera at a time and that multiple instances of the driver cannot be loaded simultaneously. Therefore, to achieve our goal of acquiring dual-band IR signatures, it was necessary to program a custom distributed algorithm capable of running two copies of the driver simultaneously on two separate computers with one PV320L2Z connected to each.
Design and calibration of a dual-band imaging system
Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety, 2007
A prototype portable multispectral imaging system, in terms of design, fabrication, compactness, and cost effectiveness was developed for real-time contaminant detection in poultry processing plants. The prototype system developed in this research was a dual-band spectral imaging system that acquired two different spectral images simultaneously. This was accomplished by using a two-port imaging system that consisted of two identical monochrome cameras, optical components, and two interchangeable optical filters. Spectral reflectance from an object was collimated by lenses and split identically in two directions by a beamsplitter. Focusing lenses behind a beamsplitter projected each image on its respective sensor. Two optical bandpass filters determined the spectral characteristics of each image and are easily interchangeable. In order to co-register two-band images, a system-specific calibration algorithm was developed that corrected lens distortions and lens-sensor geometric misalignments. The prototype imaging system and the system calibration algorithm were tested for image registration accuracy. The imaging system acquired two-band images of 3D object with less than 8.1 lm error in terms of the position of the sensor. The prototype system was able to effectively detect feces (duodenum, cecum, colon) and ingesta on the surface of poultry carcasses.
Infrared detectors for wavefront sensing
Proceedings of the Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes 5, 2017
After the development of the OCAM2 EMCCD fast visible camera [1] dedicated to advanced adaptive optics wavefront sensing, First Light Imaging moved to the SWIR fast cameras with the development of the C-RED One and the C-RED 2 cameras. First Light Imaging's C-RED One infrared camera is capable of capturing up to 3500 full frames per second with a subelectron readout noise and very low background. C-RED One is based on the last version of the SAPHIRA detector developed by Leonardo UK. This breakthrough has been made possible thanks to the use of an e-APD infrared focal plane array which is a real disruptive technology in imagery. C-RED One is an autonomous system with an integrated cooling system and a vacuum regeneration system. It operates its sensor with a wide variety of read out techniques and processes video on-board thanks to an FPGA. We will show its performances and expose its main features. In addition to this project, First Light Imaging developed an InGaAs 640x512 fast camera with unprecedented performances in terms of noise, dark and readout speed based on the SNAKE SWIR detector from Sofradir. The camera was called C-RED 2. The C-RED 2 characteristics and performances will be described. The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement N° 673944. C-RED2 development is supported by the "Investments for the future" program and the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur Region, in the frame of the CPER.