A 180 DEGREE FIELD-OF-VIEW FOVEAL AND PERIPHERAL CAMERA

WIDE FIELD-OF-VIEW (FOV) CAMERAS TO DATE HAVE BEEN PLAGUED BY DISTORTION WHICH LIMITS THEIR USE IN TELEROBOTIC OPERATIONS. ONE REASON FOR THIS DISTORTION HAS BEEN THE NEED TO PROJECT A HEMISPHERICAL IMAGE ONTO A FLAT PLANE. Q-DOT PROPOSES A UNIQUE IMAGING SYSTEM WHICH UTILIZES A HEMISPHERICAL FOCAL PLANE TO MINIMIZE DISTORTION. THIS FOCAL PLANE SERVES TO INTERFACE WIDE FOV, FLY-EYE OPTICS TO A FLAT CCD IMAGER THROUGH A SPHERICAL OPTIC AND A PIXELATED LIGHT GUIDE. A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT CAMERA BUILT IN PHASE I WILL DEMONSTRATE THIS TECHNIQUE. ACCURACY AND PRODUCIBILITYWILL ALSO BE ASSESSED. KEY ELEMENTS OF A PROTOTYPE CAMERA WILL BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED IN PHASE II. THE COMPLETE WIDE FOV CAMERA SYSTEM WILL DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF FUTURE TELEROBOTIC OPERATIONS.