Compact image scanner with large depth of field by compound eye system

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Image Processing
• Instrumentation Engineering

Background:

• Traditional image scanners face limitations in compactness and depth-of-field handling.
• Achieving high-resolution imaging with depth perception in compact devices remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a compact image scanner utilizing a compound eye system.
• To enable accurate object distance determination and effective deblurring of defocused images.

Main Methods:

• Employing a compound eye system with multiple, two-line aligned optical units.
• Utilizing reflective optics to fold the ray path, enabling a compact design.
• Implementing telecentric optical units with constant magnification for seamless image stitching.
• Leveraging oblique optical axes between adjacent units to derive object distance via parallax.

Main Results:

• Successfully created a compact image scanner with a compound eye system.
• Demonstrated the ability to combine slightly overlapped fields of view (FOV) into a cohesive image, even with defocus.
• Enabled accurate object distance measurement through parallax analysis.
• Achieved effective deblurring of defocused image segments.

Conclusions:

• The developed compound eye system offers a viable solution for compact imaging with enhanced depth perception.
• The scanner design facilitates robust image reconstruction and deblurring, improving overall image quality.
• This approach provides a foundation for advanced compact imaging systems requiring precise distance measurement.