SBIR Phase I: Three-Dimensional Computational Optical Imaging Sensor

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目研究了一种紧凑，坚固，低成本的光学成像传感器系统的可行性，该系统能够以高精度和准确度从场景中获取三维（3D）信息，上级当前的商业化技术。该传感器通过单次拍摄提供图像以及距离信息;将每个物体特征与其精确的3D位置相关联。随着传感技术的进步，3D信息越来越多地融入到现实世界的应用中，从制造到娱乐和安全。然而，在不使用主动照明的情况下，高分辨率3D信息的提取仍然具有挑战性，主动照明是紧凑、低功耗应用的关键要求。现有的被动照明解决方案基本上是基于三角测量或散焦效应。基于三角剖分的方法遭受遮挡和对应问题。另一方面，基于散焦效应的深度估计的准确性基本上受到成像系统的景深的限制。新型光场相机以分辨率的固有损失为代价将该方法扩展到多孔径。所提出的传感器系统克服了这些限制，并从根本上提供了深度分辨率的改进，同时是快速的，并行的，紧凑的，轻量级的，可扩展的。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力源于使用紧凑和强大的传感器系统获得具有高深度分辨率的实时3D深度信息的可能性。成像传感器现在很普遍，价格也很便宜，计算能力也是如此，它已经是大多数相机不可或缺的一部分。对3D成像的需求正在迅速扩大，并且是400亿美元成像市场的新兴部门。所提出的系统范例可以与现有的光电硬件集成，可以以低成本大规模生产。这种具有成本效益的方法与3D计算成像传感器的独特功能相结合，可以实现制造、机器人、人机界面和新兴3D扫描仪的颠覆性应用。这些应用并不总是能够用现有的低分辨率或主动照明方法来实现。该公司正在建立协同的工业合作伙伴关系，以加速将发现转化为应用。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project investigates the feasibility of a compact, robust, low-cost optical imaging sensor system capable of acquiring three-dimensional(3D) information from a scene with high precision and accuracy, superior to current commercialized technologies. The sensor provides, from a single shot, an image as well as distance information; associating each object feature with its precise 3D location. With the advances in sensing technology, 3D information is increasingly incorporated into real-world applications, from manufacturing to entertainment and security. However, the extraction of high-resolution 3D information remains challenging without the use of active illumination, a critical requirement for compact, low power applications. Existing passive illumination solutions are essentially based on triangulation or defocus effects. Methods based on triangulation suffer from occlusion and correspondence problems. On the other hand, the accuracy of depth estimation based on defocus effects is essentially limited by the depth of field of the imaging system. Novel light-field cameras extend the approach to multi-apertures at the expense of an inherent loss in resolution. The proposed sensor system overcomes these limitations and fundamentally provides improvements in depth resolution while being fast, parallel, compact, lightweight, and scalable. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project stems from the possibility of obtaining real-time 3D depth information with high depth resolution using a compact and robust sensor system. Imaging sensors are now widespread and inexpensive, and so is computing power, already an integral part of most cameras. Demand for 3D imaging is rapidly expanding and is the burgeoning sector of the 40 billion dollar imaging market. The proposed system paradigm can be integrated with existing optoelectronic hardware that can be mass produced at low cost. Such a cost effective approach in conjunction with the unique capabilities of the 3D computational imaging sensor could enable disruptive applications for manufacturing, robotics, human-machine interfaces, and emerging 3D scanners. These applications are not always possible to implement with existing low resolution or active illumination methods. The company is generating synergistic industrial partnerships to accelerate the transfer of discoveries into applications.