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Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications
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Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensing and Imaging".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 9619

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Renato Turchetta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Imasenic S.L., Barcelona, Spain
Interests: CMOS image sensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of CMOS image sensors is continuously growing, and so is the need for processing the data they generate. Making image sensors smart can be a must in many applications, and it is often a desired quality. This can be done in many ways, from the pixel to the periphery of the sensor. At the pixel level, event-driven pixels can be designed or in-/intra-pixel intelligence can be added, for example with a neuronal network. Data compression can also help, and in this case, low-energy solutions will be preferred. With the emergence of different types of sensors capable of providing in-depth information, 3D imaging becomes possible and the need for processing this type of data appears as well. Sensors where artificial intelligence is integrated as close as possible at the sensing place, and included in the pixel itself, are also demanded. Around this growing set of activities to develop smart sensors, there is also an overarching need for keeping power low, so that mobile applications can be addressed. Towards this goal, energy-harvesting sensors capable of generating at least part of their power needs are also demanded.

Contributions to these varied and ever expending research fields are invited for this Special Issue of the Sensors journal.

Dr. Renato Turchetta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • CMOS image sensors
  • Stacked sensors
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Event-driven image sensors
  • Compressed sensing
  • On-chip processing
  • 3D and 2D imaging
  • Neuron networks
  • Low power
  • Energy-harvesting

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 800 KiB  
Article
Low Memory Access Video Stabilization for Low-Cost Camera SoC
by Yun-Gu Lee
Sensors 2022, 22(6), 2341; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22062341 - 18 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1941
Abstract
Video stabilization is one of the most important features in consumer cameras. Even simple video stabilization algorithms may need to access the frames several times to generate a stabilized output image, which places a significant burden on the camera hardware. This high-memory-access requirement [...] Read more.
Video stabilization is one of the most important features in consumer cameras. Even simple video stabilization algorithms may need to access the frames several times to generate a stabilized output image, which places a significant burden on the camera hardware. This high-memory-access requirement makes it difficult to implement video stabilization in real time on low-cost camera SoC. Reduction of the memory usage is a critical issue in camera hardware. This paper presents a structure and layout method to efficiently implement video stabilization for low-end hardware devices in terms of shared memory access amount. The proposed method places sub-components of video stabilization in a parasitic form in other processing blocks, and the sub-components reuse data read from other processing blocks without directly accessing data in the shared memory. Although the proposed method is not superior to the state-of-the-art methods applied in post-processing in terms of video quality, it provides sufficient performance to lower the cost of camera hardware for the development of real-time devices. According to my analysis, the proposed one reduces the memory access amount by 21.1 times compared to the straightforward method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications)
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19 pages, 4242 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Channel Calibration for the Image Sensor of the TuMag Instrument
by Eduardo Magdaleno, Manuel Rodríguez Valido, David Hernández, María Balaguer, Basilio Ruiz Cobo, David Orozco Suárez, Daniel Álvarez García and Argelio Mauro González
Sensors 2022, 22(6), 2078; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22062078 - 8 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
The Sunrise missions consist of observing the magnetic field of the sun continuously for a few days from the stratosphere. In these missions, a balloon supporting a telescope and associated instrumentation, including a Tunable Magnetograph (TuMag), is lifted into the stratosphere. In the [...] Read more.
The Sunrise missions consist of observing the magnetic field of the sun continuously for a few days from the stratosphere. In these missions, a balloon supporting a telescope and associated instrumentation, including a Tunable Magnetograph (TuMag), is lifted into the stratosphere. In the camera of this instrument, the image sensor sends its data to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using eight transmission channels. These channels must be previously calibrated for a correct delivery of the image. For this mission, the FPGA has been exchanged for a newer and larger one, so the firmware has been adapted to the new device. In addition, the calibration algorithm has been parallelized as the main innovation of this work, taking advantage of the increase in logic resources of the new FPGA, in order to minimize the calibration time of the channels. The algorithm has been implemented specifically for this instrument without using the Input Serial Deserializer (ISERDES) Intellectual Property (IP), since this IP does not support the deserialization of the data sent by the image sensor to the FPGA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications)
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13 pages, 3046 KiB  
Article
Measurement of Corona Discharges under Variable Geometry, Frequency and Pressure Environment
by Pau Bas-Calopa, Jordi-Roger Riba and Manuel Moreno-Eguilaz
Sensors 2022, 22(5), 1856; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051856 - 26 Feb 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2524
Abstract
Aeronautical industry is evolving towards more electric aircrafts (MEA), which will require much more electrical power compared to conventional models. To satisfy this increasing power demand and stringent weight requirements, distribution voltages must be raised, which jointly with the low-pressure environment and high [...] Read more.
Aeronautical industry is evolving towards more electric aircrafts (MEA), which will require much more electrical power compared to conventional models. To satisfy this increasing power demand and stringent weight requirements, distribution voltages must be raised, which jointly with the low-pressure environment and high operating frequencies increase the risk of electrical discharges occurrence. Therefore, it is important to generate data to design insulation systems for these demanding applications. To this end, in this work a sphere-to-plane electrode configuration is tested for several sphere geometries (diameters ranging from 2 mm to 10 mm), frequencies of 50 Hz, 400 Hz and 800 Hz and pressures in the 20–100 kPa range, to cover most aircraft applications. The corona extinction voltage is experimentally determined by using a gas-filled tube solar blind ultraviolet (UV) sensor. In addition, a CMOS imaging sensor is used to locate the discharge points. Next, to gain further insight to the discharge conditions, the electric field strength is calculated using finite element method (FEM) simulations and fitted to equations based on Peek’s law. The results presented in this paper could be especially valuable to design aircraft electrical insulations as well as for high-voltage hardware manufacturers, since the results allow determining the electric field values at which the components can operate free of surface discharges for a wide altitude range. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications)
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17 pages, 3872 KiB  
Communication
Characterization of the Relationship between the Loess Moisture and Image Grayscale Value
by Qingbing Liu, Jinge Wang, Hongwei Zheng, Tie Hu and Jie Zheng
Sensors 2021, 21(23), 7983; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21237983 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1969
Abstract
This paper presents a model for estimating the moisture of loess from an image grayscale value. A series of well-controlled air-dry tests were performed on saturated Malan loess, and the moisture content of the loess sample during the desiccation process was automatically recorded [...] Read more.
This paper presents a model for estimating the moisture of loess from an image grayscale value. A series of well-controlled air-dry tests were performed on saturated Malan loess, and the moisture content of the loess sample during the desiccation process was automatically recorded while the soil images were continually captured using a photogrammetric device equipped with a CMOS image sensor. By converting the red, green, and blue (RGB) image into a grayscale one, the relationship between the water content and grayscale value, referred to as the water content–gray value characteristic curve (WGCC), was obtained; the impacts of dry density, particle size distribution, and illuminance on WGCC were investigated. It is shown that the grayscale value increases as the water content decreases; based on the rate of increase of grayscale value, the WGCC can be segmented into three stages: slow-rise, rapid-rise, and asymptotically stable stages. The influences that dry density and particle size distribution have on WGCC are dependent on light reflection and transmission, and this dependence is closely related to soil water types and their relative proportion. Besides, the WGCC for a given soil sample is unique if normalized with illuminance. The mechanism behind the three stages of WGCC is discussed in terms of visible light reflection. A mathematical model was proposed to describe WGCC, and the physical meaning of the model parameters was interpreted. The proposed model is validated independently using another six different types of loess samples and is shown to match well the experimental data. The results of this study can provide a reference for the development of non-contact soil moisture monitoring methods as well as relevant sensors and instruments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Related Applications)
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