Micropower Microdot CMOS APS Image Sensor

The problem to be addressed in this work is the development of a micropower microdot CMOS active pixel image sensor that dissipates an order of magnitude less power than the current state of the art CMOS APS (already orders of magnitude less power than comparable CCD-based imaging systems), and occupy only a few square millimeters in area. A micropower microdot CMOS APS would require such a low power level that it could be powered by ambient light, or by an optical fiber, or parasitically from electronic control signals. Such a micropower CMOS APS would be useful for future insect-sized nanorovers or free fliers. The sensor would be of low enough power and mass that hundreds of sensor "eyes" could cover the exterior surface of a larger microUAV, or UAV. In Phase I, methods to achieve the micropower microdot CMOS APS (including optics) would be investigated. The starting point will be the state-of-the-art very low power CMOS APS technology developed by the proposers during their former employment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Trades for power, performance, mass, and producibility will be conducted. A strawman target of specifications for Phase II concept validation experiments will be developed.