Tingzhu Bai

Method for suppressing the quantization error of Newton’s rings fringe pattern

Abstract. Newton’s rings fringe pattern is often encountered in optical measurement. The digital processing of the fringe pattern is widely used to enable automatic analysis and improve the accuracy and flexibility. Before digital processing, sampling and quantization are necessary, which introduce quantization errors in the fringe pattern. Quantization errors are always analyzed and suppressed in the Fourier transform (FT) domain. But Newton’s rings fringe pattern is demonstrated to be a two-dimensional chirp signal, and the traditional methods based on the FT domain are not efficient when suppressing quantization errors in such signals with large bandwidth as chirp signals. This paper proposes a method for suppressing quantization errors in the fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) domain, for chirp signals occupies little bandwidth in the FRFT domain. This method has better effect on reduction of quantization errors in the fringe pattern than traditional methods. As an example, a standard Newton’s rings fringe pattern is analyzed in the FRFT domain and then 8.5 dB of improvement in signal-to-quantization-noise ratio and about 1.4 bits of increase in accuracy are obtained compared to the case of the FT domain. Consequently, the image quality of Newton’s rings fringe pattern is improved, which is beneficial to optical metrology.

Optimization of retina-like sensor parameters based on visual task requirements

Abstract. Retina-like sensors maximize both field of view and resolution in addition to economizing on pixel count, so they play an important role in both biological and machine vision. A new retina-like sensor model for compensating motion blur introduced by forward motion imaging is proposed. Next, the determination of pixel arrangement of a retina-like sensor according to visual task requirements is formulated into a multiobjective optimization problem. Then, three retina-like sensors are designed to meet different visual task requirements using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results are robust and approximate to design criteria.

Design of an omnidirectional optical antenna for ultraviolet communication

In this paper we propose an omnidirectional large field-optical antenna with a dual-mirror structure and field devices and demonstrate its utilization in ultraviolet (UV) communications. Theoretical analysis shows that it is suitable for short-range UV communication. Simulation indicates that the optical gain is 32, and the system has a good spot uniformity. Additionally, incident angles of incident ray meet the requirement of the interference filter (±10°). Outdoor experiments show that the angle of FOV is in the range of ±20°~±80° and a SNR increase of 31 dB compared with bare tube is observed, demonstrating the effectiveness of the omnidirectional optical antenna structure for free-space UV communication.

Continuous zoom antenna for mobile visible light communication

In this paper, we design a continuous zoom antenna for mobile visible light communication (VLC). In the design, a right-angle reflecting prism was adopted to fold the space optical path, thus decreasing the antenna thickness. The surface of each lens in the antenna is spherical, and the system cost is relatively low. Simulation results indicated that the designed system achieved the following performance: zoom ratio of 2.44, field of view (FOV) range of 18°-48°, system gain of 16.8, and system size of 18 mm×6  mm. Finally, we established an indoor VLC system model in a room the size of 5  m ×5  m ×3  m and compared the detection results of the zoom antenna and fixed-focus antenna obtained in a multisource communication environment, a mobile VLC environment, and a multiple-input multiple-output communication environment. The simulation results indicated that the continuous zoom antenna could realize large FOV and high gain. Moreover, the system showed improved stability, mobility, and environmental applicability.

Experimental measurement of modulation transfer function of a retina-like sensor

Abstract. The retina-like sensor is a kind of anthropomorphic visual sensor. It plays an important role in both biological and machine vision due to its advantages of high resolution in the fovea, a wide field-of-view, and minimum pixel count. The space-variant property of the sensor makes it difficult to directly measure its modulation transfer function (MTF). The MTF of a retina-like sensor is measured with the bar-target pattern method. According to the pixel arrangement, the sensor is divided into rings and the MTF of each ring is measured using spoke targets with different periods. Comparison between the measured MTF and the theoretical MTF of the sensor showed that they coincide. The differences between them are also analyzed and discussed. The measured MTF helps to analyze the performance of an imaging system containing a retina-like sensor.

Dynamic modulation transfer function of a retina-like sensor

In this paper, we propose a method to deduce the dynamic modulation transfer function (DMTF) of a space-variant sampling retina-like sensor and demonstrate its utilization in the forward motion imaging process. With the analysis of sampling and the motion imaging property of the sensor, DMTF has been derived. Next, the performance of DMTF between a retina-like sensor and a rectilinear sensor is compared, and the results show that the degradation of DMTF in forward motion is less than that of a rectilinear sensor. Then, the output images are obtained through simulation based on DMTF, and they are compared with that obtained from a CMOS camera with the same forward motion conditions. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the two kinds of images are all larger than 0.85. Thus, the effectiveness of DMTF is shown.

Readout circuit design of the retina-like CMOS image sensor

Readout circuit is designed for a special retina-like CMOS image sensor. To realize the pixels timing drive and readout of the sensor, the Alteras Cyclone II FPGA is used as a control chip. The voltage of the sensor is supported by a voltage chip initialized by SPI with AVR MCU system. The analog image signal outputted by the sensor is converted to digital image data by 12-bits A/D converter ADS807 and the digital data is memorized in the SRAM. Using the Camera-link image grabber, the data stored in SRAM is transformed to image shown on PC. Experimental results show the circuit works well on retina-like CMOS timing drive and image readout and images can be displayed properly on the PC.

Application of Fractional Fourier transform for interferometry

The Fractional Fourier transform can be understood as a chirp-based decomposition. Accordingly it can be used to process fringe patterns with quadratic phase, including denoising, quantization error reduction, sampling and reconstruction, and phase derivative estimation.

Retina-like sensor image coordinates transformation and display

For a new kind of retina-like senor camera, the image acquisition, coordinates transformation and interpolation need to be realized. Both of the coordinates transformation and interpolation are computed in polar coordinate due to the sensor’s particular pixels distribution. The image interpolation is based on sub-pixel interpolation and its relative weights are got in polar coordinates. The hardware platform is composed of retina-like senor camera, image grabber and PC. Combined the MIL and OpenCV library, the software program is composed in VC++ on VS 2010. Experience results show that the system can realizes the real-time image acquisition, coordinate transformation and interpolation.

Experimental Study of Multispectral Characteristics of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at Different Observation Angles

This study investigates multispectral characteristics of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at different observation angles by experiment. The UAV and its engine are tested on the ground in the cruise state. Spectral radiation intensities at different observation angles are obtained in the infrared band of 0.9–15 μm by a spectral radiometer. Meanwhile, infrared images are captured separately by long-wavelength infrared (LWIR), mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR), and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) cameras. Additionally, orientation maps of the radiation area and radiance are obtained. The results suggest that the spectral radiation intensity of the UAV is determined by its exhaust plume and that the main infrared emission bands occur at 2.7 μm and 4.3 μm. At observation angles in the range of 0°–90°, the radiation area of the UAV in MWIR band is greatest; however, at angles greater than 90°, the radiation area in the SWIR band is greatest. In addition, the radiance of the UAV at an angle of 0° is strongest. These conclusions can guide IR stealth technique development for UAVs.