Optical performance test and validation of microcameras in multiscale, gigapixel imagers.

Wide field-of-view gigapixel imaging systems capable of diffraction-limited resolution and video-rate acquisition have a broad range of applications, including sports event broadcasting, security surveillance, astronomical observation, and bioimaging. The complexity of the system integration of such devices demands precision optical components that are fully characterized and qualified before being integrated into the final system. In this work, we present component and assembly level characterizations of microcameras in our first gigapixel camera, the AWARE-2.

Optomechanical design of multiscale gigapixel digital camera.

Recent developments in multiscale imaging systems have opened up the possibility for commercially viable wide-field gigapixel cameras. While multiscale design principles allow tremendous simplification of the optical design, they place increased emphasis on optomechanics and system level integration of the camera as a whole. In this paper we present the optomechanical design of a prototype two-gigapixel system (AWARE-2) that has been constructed and tested.