Imec’s prototype hyperspectral camera can capture multiple types of data about materials or different parts of the same object. This could help in the development of automatic object classification systems that rival those used in state-of-the-art hyperspectral references and recorded spectra of plant material. The innovation could lead to small, cost-efficient cameras that can be adapted easily into vision systems.
The prototype chip's hyperspectral filter, which Imec developed, has 100 spectral bands between 560nm and 1,000nm. The filter bandwidth ranges from 3nm at 560nm to 20nm at 1,000nm, and the transmission efficiency is approximately 85 percent. Under illumination by a 450W halogen light, the prototype's typical image integration times are between 2 and 10 milliseconds.
Imec has been working on the development of a hyperspectral sensor for some time, based on its research reports from 2010 and 2009. Some of those efforts targeted machine vision, medical, and security applications.
The speed of Imec's demonstration system corresponds to an equivalent line speed of 2,000 lines per second -- much faster than current hyperspectral sensors. To adapt the technology to different industrial vision application requirements, a different commercially available or custom image sensor could be substituted with different pixel sizes and frame rates. The number of spectral bands and the spectral resolution of the hyperspectral filters can also be changed.
William, thanks for your comments. As williamlweaver points out, this new R&D development has some incredible advancements. As to commercialization, that would come in the form of other companies incorporating the chip into their products.
The second page, which has the spectral response information, was slow to appear, so some may have missed it, as I almost did. There may be a few non-machine vision applications, depending on the price of the camera. I do see some very interesting products if the price is right. But just as others have said, announcing the product is a lot different than shipping the product. So please be sure to make a big deal out of the announcement that they are shipping these cameras in any quantity.
MicroImaging, thanks for your comments. I agree that there's a lot of vaporware out there. But this is not a breathless, hype-y startup. It's Imec, and they don't do vaporware. This is also a prototype, as we clearly stated, and as we all know, it can take time for a prototype's promise to become a reality, and not all prototypes become products in high volume on a production line. If you succeed in getting that chart from Imec, please let us know.
It took Foveon 5 years to commercialize their technlogy of using a single CCD to get the RGB layes right. Unless this company is willing to publically publish a responsivity chart I am not weilling to hold my breathe. To me this is just another marketing department bringin infiormation way ahead of their enigneering department. I have seen it so many times in the past I have just given up on these press releases.
Show me the Specs or get out of my way. I got a job to do with real products in real time.
William, thanks for the input. I'm not a specialist in this area, but I have a retentive reporter's memory and those specs sure looked leading edge, if not bleeding edge, to me. The one that first caught my eye, besides the integration of spectroscopy plus imaging on a chip, was the 6x maximum frame rate of the 4 MP image sensor. It's good to hear that the hyperspectral sensor frame rate is also wicked fast. The one thing we didn't get info on is the price. Since this is a prototype, it may go through some design shrinks for the first production runs that will help lower that.
Thanks, Ann! This is amazing technology. Taking a look at the original release, Imec mentions integration times as short at 2 ms, which, not counting transfer time, would equate to their specified max of 500 fps. When it comes to their hyperspectral filter, it has a maximum of 100 band settings at an effective slew rate of 2000 bands per second, which puts it around 500 us per band -- darn fast. I'm guessing that is the reaction time of the electro-optics they are using for their proprietary filter. Either way, this is a really impressive piece of technology that should find rapid acceptance in all sorts of machine vision applications.
Aldo, I'm not exactly sure what your question is. As the article states, the prototype chip's hyperspectral filter has 100 spectral bands between 560nm and 1,000nm. The filter bandwidth ranges from 3nm at 560nm to 20nm at 1,000nm, and the transmission efficiency is approximately 85 percent.\
Chuck, there are other multispectral sensor chips of varying sizes, architectures and wavelength ranges--usually IR or IR plus visible light--but Imec's combination of hyperspectral spectroscopy sensor with regular visible light image sensor is unusual. It may also beunique. It's certainly one of the smallest I've seen, but I don't read German and I wouldn't be surprised if there are others (Germany is a leader in machine vision and imaging technology). That said, European Imec is a leading edge research institution, and they have a lot of firsts to their name.
Interesting that it may be able to detect counterfeit components made of inferior materials. Right now, components coming back as returns are inspected by the human eye. There is a training program and certification for inspectors. But that process can't catch everything. Returns are the vulnerability area that lets counterfeit components into the legitimate-component bloodstream. A camera that can see better than the human eye could be a big help.
Hi Ann, this camera systems looks very interesting and powerful for many applications. I want to ask what is the typical spectral range of vision this components have and what is the difference with this one, I work with concentrated solar power systems and I wonder if this devices would work for analysis of ray tracing for beam radiation. Thank you and great article.
Inspired by the hooks a parasitic worm uses to penetrate its host's intestines, the Karp Lab has invented a flexible adhesive patch covered with microneedles that adheres well to wet, soft tissues, but doesn't cause damage when removed.
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego are designing a robotic arm that takes inspiration from the loose, flexible, yet very strong structure of the armored plates on a seahorse's tail.
Researchers at the Missouri University of Science & Technology have designed a new nanoscale material that can transmit light faster than the 186,000 miles per second it usually takes to travel through air.
It has often been said that as California goes, so goes the nation. This spring, the state's wind power is setting energy generation records and solar energy generation is expected to rise sharply during the second half of 2013.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
4 
