Developed under the leadership of a team from the University of Maryland a new camerais preparing for a major breakthrough in many areas where cameras are used, from our smartphones to robots. This camera, which will improve the way robots see and react to the world, will also be able to perform focusing and perception processes that the human eye performs involuntarily.

“Artificial Microsaccade Enhanced Event Camera” (AMI-EV) The prototyping and testing of the camera, called ‘System’, was detailed in a paper published in Science Robotics. To do this, it mimics the saccadic movements that occur in the human eye by making continuous rotational movements in the camera.

Major breakthrough for robotics

The PhD candidate who led the research Botao He, “Event cameras are a relatively new technology that are better than traditional cameras at tracking moving objects, but current event cameras struggle to capture sharp, blurry images when there is a lot of motion. This is a big problem because many technologies, such as robots and self-driving cars, need to respond appropriately to a changing environment accurate and timely images it needs. So we asked ourselves: How do humans and animals manage to focus on a moving object? he said.

The team was placed in AMI-EV rotating prism mechanism He succeeded in imitating microsaccades and redirecting the captured rays. They then developed software to compensate for prism movements and create still images of shifted light.

With this model, researchers robotics, defense systemsThey say that major breakthroughs can be made in many technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and smartphones. In early tests, AMI-EV attracted attention for its ability to accurately capture motion and recognize shapes.