Flexible Miniaturized Camera Array Inspired by Natural Visual Systems

We report on a flexible microcamera array inspired by natural visual systems. The camera array is a hybrid artificial visual system that combines the large field of view (FOV) of compound eyes together with the high resolution of mammalian eyes. The camera array allows for maximum flexibility and instantaneous reconfigurability to observe a wide FOV. The microcamera array takes advantage of different fabrication techniques including 3-D printing and ultraviolet (UV) liquid phase photopolymerization, as well as utilizing flexible polymers. The array consists of three miniature cameras, each composed of a 1 mm(2) stand-alone image sensor and a 0.9-mm-diameter microlens. The lenses were fabricated by utilizing the surface tension of UV curable transparent polymers on Teflon coated substrates. The structure of the array was fabricated using 3-D printing. The miniaturized cameras were connected by a flexible and stretchable polymer. Images from the cameras in the array were stitched together to provide an FOV of 130 degrees.