Inspired by the amazing eyes of insects, researchers at KAIST have developed a tiny, high-speed camera that works incredibly well in low light.
This camera, just 1 millimeter thick, can capture an astonishing 9,120 frames per second while producing clear images even in dim conditions. Their breakthrough has been published in Science Advances.
Insects, like flies, have compound eyes made up of many small lenses.
These eyes help them see fast-moving objects and detect motion even in low light.
The research team, led by Professors Ki-Hun Jeong and Min H. Kim, used this concept to create a low-cost, high-speed camera that solves two major challenges of traditional cameras: poor sensitivity at high speeds and blurry images in dim lighting.
High-speed cameras are often used to capture fast motion, but they struggle in low-light situations.
This is because when frame rates increase, the camera has less time to collect light, making the images darker and noisier. To tackle this, the KAIST researchers designed a camera with a compound-eye-like structure that collects light in a way similar to insect eyes.
The new camera uses multiple optical channels to capture frames at slightly different time intervals, combining light from overlapping time periods.
This innovative design increases the amount of light captured, producing clearer images even in dark conditions. The camera can detect objects that are 40 times dimmer than what conventional high-speed cameras can see.
To further improve the camera’s performance, the team developed two key techniques.
First, they introduced a “channel-splitting” method to boost the speed, making the camera thousands of times faster than existing systems. Second, they created a “compressed image restoration” algorithm to remove blur caused by the overlapping frames, resulting in sharp and detailed images.
The tiny size and impressive performance of this camera make it ideal for a wide range of uses.
According to Hyun-Kyung Kim, a PhD student and the study’s first author, “Our experiments show that this insect-eye-inspired camera works exceptionally well for high-speed and low-light imaging, despite being so small. It opens up exciting possibilities for portable cameras, security systems, and medical imaging.”
The research team plans to enhance the camera further by working on 3D imaging and super-resolution imaging. This advanced technology could be used in biomedical devices, mobile cameras, and other areas where small, high-performing cameras are needed.
This invention shows how nature’s designs can inspire solutions to some of our toughest technological challenges, bringing us closer to creating compact, powerful cameras for the future.
Source: KSR.
