PENTA project CAVIAR will improve system-level image capture systems for 3 different application areas; precision agriculture solutions, medical diagnostics and UHD slow motion broadcasts.
We are facing several economic and societal challenges.
Firstly, society is ageing, leading to an increase in chronic diseases requiring intensive healthcare, which drives the need for change to keep treatment affordable. Improved diagnostics reliability can shorten turn-around times.
Then there is agriculture. To make the agro-food industry sustainable, new ‘precision agriculture’ solutions are needed to deal with, for example, early detection of possible food-related causes of ill-health in order to reduce the burden of such diseases on our healthcare services.
Thirdly, consumers are looking for ways of improving their viewing pleasure through Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) TV and High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) pictures, forcing media content creators to move to UHD slow motion.
The result is a continuing altering of the broadcasting landscape, in which camera operators will need better means to focus on UHDTV and ensure a healthy and comfortable working space. Finally, the digital-component industry is also coming under pressure to develop general-purpose image-sensors for use in industrial vision, but also in safety and security applications (where cameras trigger early-warnings) and in automotive for driver and passenger monitoring.
The common technology for addressing all these application demands is image capture.
However, current image-capture and processing systems have to be improved beyond the state-of-the-art in spatial-, temporal-, and spectral resolutions that enable better diagnostics, and or perception. What’s more, in the case of picture performance, not only better image sensors are needed; but also new hardware, image-processing capabilities and high-data-rate handling need to be developed. That’s where the CAVIAR project can provide the necessary answers.
CAVIAR will develop various aspects of image capture technologies, such as optics, image capture, video processing and transmission, needed for these applications.
These features will improve system-level image capture for medical diagnostics, sustainable agriculture, live television productions, and safety and security, as well as, extend the functionality of professional CMOS image sensors for multiple applications.
Key project goals, deliverables and activities are various
- Designing new image sensors and developing application demonstrators, including new hardware and firmware/software algorithms;
- Enhancing image performance by extending the light spectrum that can be captured, thus increasing pixel performance and enabling higher frame rates in UHDTV resolution;
- Developing image capture systems for digital pathology, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), operating room-assisted imaging and life-cell imaging to enable better diagnostics and shorter turn-around times in hospitals;
- Developing a multispectral camera for precision agriculture and food sorting, providing solutions for a sustainable agri-food industry and slow-motion image-capture for live television;
- Supporting content creators to transition from HDTV to UHDTV;
- Complying with the EMVA 1288, CoaXPress and SMPTE standards.
Project research and results (mainly shared at conferences and trade shows) will close the knowledge gaps across the European value-chain for micro- and nanoelectronics-based components and systems, from technology providers to end-users. Importantly, project partners and their European business peers can use this market and application experience and expertise to define and specify next-generation CMOS image-sensor systems.
In addition, research conducted in CAVIAR will also reinforce and enhance existing strengths in Europe’s micro- and nanoelectronics industries. To stay ahead of foreign competition in these markets, it is crucial to select and develop the right differentiating functionalities and to optimise technologies used in end-user applications. More to the point, sharing and deploying these requirements will help optimise performance and functionality in line with what is really needed in image-capture systems, instead of a more general optimisation for wider, but average use.
To watch the full video on CAVIAR project and learn more about how Penta helps collaborative partners to create our digital future, please click here.