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OPTICALLY READ OUT SILICON RETINA

Award Information
Agency: National Science Foundation
Branch: N/A
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 11766
Amount: $50,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1990
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
2200 Central Ave
Boulder, CO 80301
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mark A Handschy
 Director Of Research
 () -
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

OPERATIONS SUCH AS EDGE AND MOTION DETECTION TAX CURRENT AND FUTURE CONVENTIONAL DIGITAL ELECTRONIC IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS. WE PROPOSE A NOVEL INTEGRATED DEVICE CAPABLE OF PERFORMING THESE FUNCTIONS IN REAL TIME. OUR DEVICE IS BASED ON THE "SILICON RETINA" OF CARVER MEAD, BUT ADDS OPTICAL OUTPUTS, ALLOWING PREPROCESSED IMAGES TO BEFED DIRECTLY TO FURTHER OPTICAL PARALLEL PROCESSING STAGES. THESE "RETINAS" ARE CMOS VLSI IMPLEMENTATIONS OF NEURAL NETWORKS WHICH DUPLICATE MANY OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE VERTEBRATE RETINA. THE TECHNOLOGY WE PROPOSE WILL ALLOW READOUT OF THE RETINA AT FRAME RATES UP TO 10 KHZ, MORE OR LESS INDEPENDENT OF ITS SIZE. IN PHASE I, WE PROPOSE TO BUILD AND DEMONSTRATE A SMALL (32 X 32) PROTOTYPE RETINA WITH BINARY OPTICAL READOUT EMPLOYING INTEGRATED FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL (FLC) LIGHT MODULATORS. IN PHASE II LARGER AND MORE SOPHISTICATED RETINAS WILL BE BUILT, USING ANALOG FLC READOUT. THEN THEY WILL ALSO BE INCORPORATED INTO IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE PROPOSED DEVICE OVER DIGITAL ELECTRONICS,AND ESPECIALLY IT LOW COST, SHOULD GIVE IT MANY COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE IN THE FIELDS OF OPTICAL INSPECTION AND ROBOTICS.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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