ABSTRACT
A minimalistic optical sensing device for the indoor localization is proposed to estimate the relative position between the sensor and active markers using amplitude modulated infrared light. The innovative insect-based sensor can measure azimuth and elevation angles with respect to two small and cheap active infrared light emitting diodes (LEDs) flickering at two different frequencies. In comparison to a previous lensless visual sensor that we proposed for proximal localization (less than 30 cm), we implemented: (i) a minimalistic sensor in terms of small size (10 cm 3 ), light weight (6 g) and low power consumption (0.4 W); (ii) an Arduino-compatible demodulator for fast analog signal processing requiring low computational resources; and (iii) an indoor positioning system for a mobile robotic application. Our results confirmed that the proposed sensor was able to estimate the position at a distance of 2 m with an accuracy as small as 2-cm at a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. Our sensor can be also suitable to be implemented in a position feedback loop for indoor robotic applications in GPS-denied environment.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present: (i) a novel analog silicon retina featuring auto-adaptive pixels that obey the Michaelis-Menten law, i.e. V=V(m) I(n)/I(n)+σ(n); (ii) a method of characterizing silicon retinas, which makes it possible to accurately assess the pixels' response to transient luminous changes in a ±3-decade range, as well as changes in the initial steady-state intensity in a 7-decade range. The novel pixel, called M(2)APix, which stands for Michaelis-Menten Auto-Adaptive Pixel, can auto-adapt in a 7-decade range and responds appropriately to step changes up to ±3 decades in size without causing any saturation of the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) transistors. Thanks to the intrinsic properties of the Michaelis-Menten equation, the pixel output always remains within a constant limited voltage range. The range of the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) was therefore adjusted so as to obtain a Least Significant Bit (LSB) voltage of 2.35mV and an effective resolution of about 9 bits. The results presented here show that the M(2)APix produced a quasi-linear contrast response once it had adapted to the average luminosity. Differently to what occurs in its biological counterparts, neither the sensitivity to changes in light nor the contrast response of the M(2)APix depend on the mean luminosity (i.e. the ambient lighting conditions). Lastly, a full comparison between the M(2)APix and the Delbrück auto-adaptive pixel is provided.
