Motion detection for high-speed high-brightness objects based on a pulse array image sensor

Abstract

We describe a method of optical flow extraction for high-speed high-brightness targets based on a pulse array image sensor (PAIS). PAIS is a retina-like image sensor with pixels triggered by light; it can convert light into a series of pulse intervals. This method can obtain optical flow from pulse data directly by accumulating continuous pulses. The triggered points can be used to filter redundant data when the target is brighter than the background. The method takes full advantage of the rapid response of PAIS to high-brightness targets. We applied this method to extract the optical flow of high-speed turntables with different background brightness, with the sensor model and actual data, respectively. Under the sampling condition of 2×10⁴ frames/s, the optical flow could be extracted from a high-speed turntable rotating at 1000 r/min. More than 90% of redundant points could be filtered by our method. Experimental results showed that the optical flow extraction algorithm based on pulse data can extract the optical flow information of high-brightness objects efficiently without the need to reconstruct images.

Keywords

Optical flow / Retina-like image sensor / Pulse triggered / High-speed targets / Vision processing

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2022 Zhejiang University Press