Unmanned Systems Technology 021 | Robot Aviation FX450 l Imaging Sensors focus l UAVs Insight l Liquid-Piston X-Mini l Riptide l Eurosatory 2018 show report l Zipline l Electric Motors focus l ASTS show report

42 Focus | Imaging Underwater sensing More sensitive image sensors are also increasingly important for underwater applications. The LED lights that are needed for subsea cameras take a substantial amount of energy from a UUV’s batteries, so increasing the sensitivity means they need less power. The sensors can also be used as a collision detection system for navigating underwater. A real-time 10 Hz 3D estimation system uses a fast-shutter CMOS sensor (1280 x 1024) that has been customised to work with a 532 nm LED laser. A depth-estimation algorithm has been designed to handle the effects of light scattering in water and can provide a resolution of 1 cm at a range of up to 10 m. The drive to volume-ship image sensors for driver assist and autonomous cars is dominating the development of CMOS image sensors, both for EO and near-IR applications, as well as the image processing subsystems. The challenges of different LED frequencies in the headlights of other vehicles and in road signs are being addressed, and new algorithms are reducing the power consumption of the subsystems, helping with thermal management. At the same time, some of these algorithms and sensors are being adopted in aerial and even underwater systems to boost their autonomous operation. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank John Gerard at On Semiconductor, Martin Duncan of STMicroelectronics, Mark Zanmiller of Sightline Applications and Sébastien Tinnes of Sofradir-EC. August/September 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology AUSTRALIA UAV Vision +61 265 811 994 www.uavvision.com BELGIUM Xenics Infrared Solutions +32 16 38 99 00 www.xenics.com CANADA Teledyne DALSA +1 519 886 6000 www.teledynedalsa.com ESTONIA Threod Systems +372 512 1154 www.threod.com FRANCE New Imaging Technologies +33 1 64 47 88 58 www.new-imaging-technologies.com GERMANY Framos +49 897 106 670 www.framos.com ISRAEL Adasky +972 77 2518840 www.adasky.com Controp +972 9744 0661 www.controp.com Intel/Mobileye +972 25 417333 www.mobileye.com JAPAN Sony +81 96 292 6115 www.sony-semicon.co.jp SOUTH KOREA Samsung +82 2 2255 0114 www.samsung.com SWEDEN DST Control +46 13 211080 www.dst.se SWITZERLAND ST Microelectronics +212 37 67 8500 www.st.com UK Teledyne e2v + 44 (0)1245 453607 www.teledyne-e2v.com USA Ambarella +1 408 734 8888 www.ambarella.com Delta Digital Video +1 215 657 5270 www.deltadigitalvideo.com FLIR +1 866 477 3687 www.flir.com Lumenera Corporation +1 613 736 4077 www.lumenera.com Meller Optics +1 401 331 3717 www.melleroptics.com Omnivision Technologies +1 408 567 3000 www.ovt.com On Semiconductor +1 800 282 9855 www.onsemi.com Overwatch Imaging +1 541 716 4832 www.overwatchimaging.com Qualcomm +1 858 587 1121 www.qualcomm.com Sierra-Olympic +1 425 445 8884 www.sierraolympic.com Sightline Applications +1 541 716 5137 www.sightline.com Sofradir-EC +1 973 882 0211 www.sofradir-ec.com Texas Instruments +1 800 2758 3927 www.ti.com UTC Aerospace Systems +1 541 387 2120 www.cloudcaptech.com Some examples of imaging systems suppliers