Bionic Imaging and Optical Devices: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomimetic Design, Constructions and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 1023

Special Issue Editors

School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: bionic imaging; liquid lens; soft actuators; compound eye
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Guest Editor
College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdou, China
Interests: liquid lens; optical imaging system; liquid crystal lens; microscopy and super resolution imaging
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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: soft actuators and sensors; precision mechanism
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School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: liquid lens; bionic imaging; computational imaging
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biomimetics is the extraction of a good design from nature. Inspired by nature’s vision, many kinds of bionic imaging systems and optical devices have been studied in recent decades. For example, two main types of eyes are found in nature. One is the single-aperture eye that is mainly found in mammals, while the other is the compound eye which is typical for insects. Evolving from the single-aperture eye, the liquid lens has achieved adaptive focusing imaging without any moving components. By mimicking the natural compound eye, some striking imaging systems, with a wide field of view, an excellent capability to detect moving objects, and high sensitivity to light intensity, are proposed. The field aims to develop novel bionic imaging systems and optical devices that can overcome some drawbacks in systems and devices designed by traditional imaging methods and produce diverse functions and remarkable merits inspired by nature. This Special Issue calls for contributions from all relevant fields and their interfaces that showcase the latest research findings on bionic imaging and optical devices and new developments in imaging and optics, mimicking the form and function of natural vision.

Dr. Yang Cheng
Prof. Dr. Lei Li
Dr. Yangkun Zhang
Dr. Chao Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • bionic imaging
  • liquid lens
  • compound eye
  • varifocal lens
  • beam steering
  • bioinspiration
  • photodetector
  • soft actuators

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 5235 KiB  
Article
Continuous Optical Zoom Compound Eye Imaging Using Alvarez Lenses Actuated by Dielectric Elastomers
by Chuanxun Chen, Qun Hao, Lin Liu, Jie Cao, Zhibo Qiao and Yang Cheng
Biomimetics 2024, 9(6), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9060374 - 20 Jun 2024
Viewed by 834
Abstract
The compound eye is a natural multi-aperture optical imaging system. In this paper, a continuous optical zoom compound eye imaging system based on Alvarez lenses is proposed. The main optical imaging part of the proposed system consists of a curved Alvarez lens array [...] Read more.
The compound eye is a natural multi-aperture optical imaging system. In this paper, a continuous optical zoom compound eye imaging system based on Alvarez lenses is proposed. The main optical imaging part of the proposed system consists of a curved Alvarez lens array (CALA) and two Alvarez lenses. The movement of the CALA and two Alvarez lenses perpendicular to the optical axis is realized by the actuation of the dielectric elastomers (DEs). By adjusting the focal length of the CALA and the two Alvarez lenses, the proposed system can realize continuous zoom imaging without any mechanical movement vertically to the optical axis. The experimental results show that the paraxial magnification of the target can range from ∼0.30× to ∼0.9×. The overall dimensions of the optical imaging part are 54 mm × 36 mm ×60 mm (L × W × H). The response time is 180 ms. The imaging resolution can reach up to 50 lp/mm during the optical zoom process. The proposed continuous optical zoom compound eye imaging system has potential applications in various fields, including large field of view imaging, medical diagnostics, machine vision, and distance detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Imaging and Optical Devices: 2nd Edition)
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