SBIR Phase I: Development of a midwave infrared plenoptic camera prototype

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是展示新相机解决方案在夜间或白天以及在恶劣天气下的可行性。今天的自动驾驶辅助系统往往不足以识别夜间或恶劣条件下的行人。该项目将展示一种全天候运行的摄像头解决方案，并对行人、骑自行车的人、动物以及车辆(无论是移动的还是静止的)进行检测和分类，从而实现更安全的车辆运营和拯救生命。该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目通过引入高分辨率3D传感器来解决当代自动车辆传感器的不足，该传感器在任何照明条件和大多数天气条件下都表现良好。这项研究建立在光场或全光技术的基础上，这些技术在可见光领域被证明是有效的，并通过额外的创新将它们应用到热学领域。专门建造的微透镜阵列(MLA)与中波红外(MWIR)相机和新的热计算摄影测量算法相结合，以提供具有足够细节的密集2D和距离信息，以快速分类周围物体。特别是，3D MWIR视频非常适合于检测和分类可能移动的物体，如行人、车辆和动物。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to demonstrate the viability of a new camera solution for night or day and in adverse weather. Today's automatic driver assist systems are often inadequate for identifying pedestrians at night or in poor conditions. This project will demonstrate a camera solution that will operate day and night, in all weather, and detects and classifies pedestrians, cyclists, animals as well as vehicles (either moving or stationary), thereby unlocking safer vehicle operation and saving lives.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses a shortcoming of contemporary autonomous vehicle sensors by introducing a high-resolution 3D sensor that performs well in any lighting condition and most weather conditions. The research builds upon light field, or plenoptic, technologies proven effective in the visible domain and applies them to the thermal domain with additional innovations. A purpose-built microlens array (MLA) is coupled with a mid-wave infrared (MWIR) camera and new thermal computational photogrammetry algorithms to deliver dense 2D and range information with sufficient detail to quickly classify surrounding objects. In particular, it will be shown that 3D MWIR video is ideally suited to readily detect and classify objects that may move such as pedestrians, vehicles and animals.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.