Redefining the future of electromagnetic sensing: portable single-pixel millimeter-wave cameras operating in real-time

电磁成像给了我们一种“看不见”的新视觉。它之所以能做到这一点，是因为它能穿透大多数不透明的材料。这对于食品、材料和结构的安全筛选和无损评估等应用具有重要意义。然而，目前现有技术的局限性阻碍了电磁成像系统的大规模采用，因为它们仅限于非常具体的小众应用，例如机场使用摊位大小的系统进行安全检查，这在其他情况下是负担不起的。低成本、便携的解决方案，如该研究员开创的徒手成像系统，为重新定义未来的电磁传感技术提供了一种颠覆性的解决方案。然而，这些系统的缺点是采集时间长，硬件复杂性高，限制了它们作为便携式扫描仪（相干计算成像）的使用。因此，未来的便携式毫米波相机需要进行巨大的改变，才能成为实时应用的可行选择。为此目的，将开发利用压缩感知技术的非相干计算成像的广泛研究框架。该项目的最终目标是克服先前的限制，提供第一个具有实时性能的便携式毫米波单像素成像仪。此外，该奖学金将成为申请人独立研究生涯的开端，申请人将受益于蓬勃发展的研究环境和全面的培训计划。此外，他将受到世界级专家的指导，这将指导他完成他的研究，并将帮助他建立一个庞大的合作网络。

Electromagnetic imaging gives us a new sense of vision to "see the invisible". It achieves this due to the ability to see through most optically opaque materials. This is of great interest for several applications such as security screening and non-destructive evaluation of food, materials and structures. However, current limitations of the existing technology prevent the mass adoption of electromagnetic imaging systems, since they are constrained to very specific niche applications, such as security screening at airports using booth-size systems, which are not affordable in other contexts. Low-cost, portable solutions, such as freehand imaging systems pioneered by the fellow, offer a disruptive solution to redefine the future electromagnetic sensing technology. Nevertheless, these systems suffer from long acquisition times and demand a significant hardware complexity that limit their use as portable scanners (coherent computational imaging). Therefore, the future portable millimeter-wave cameras require drastic changes to be a feasible option for use in real-time applications. For that purpose, the vastly understudied framework of incoherent computational imaging, leveraging compressive sensing techniques, will be developed. The ultimate goal of this project is to overcome the previous limitations to deliver the first portable millimeter-wave single-pixel imager offering real-time performance. In addition, this fellowship will form the beginning of an independent research career of the applicant, who will benefit from a thriving research environment and a comprehensive training program. Moreover, he will be mentored by world-class experts, which will guide him through his research and will help him to build a large collaboration network.