Photonics & Imaging

Imaging

Your destination for advances in imaging systems, machine vision, visualization software, and human-machine interfaces (HMIs) technologies. Design engineers can access news, technical briefs, applications, and product developments.

Stories

Articles: Data Acquisition

After the Storm — Rapid Location of Damaged Utility Poles

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a drone that can find and rapidly locate damaged utility poles.

NASA Spinoff: Imaging

Amplified Power of Traveling-Wave Tubes

Traveling-wave tubes designed for NASA are being used not only for satellite systems but also ground applications.

Articles: AR/AI

Helping Machine Vision Go Beyond Human Programming

Facial recognition AI inspections will go beyond simple geometry. They will learn how makeup, tattoos, or clothing may conceal features that were previously used to identify someone.

Articles: Imaging

Hyperspectral Imaging: Making Rich Colors More Visible

Spectral measurement is thus the basis of remote sensing, allowing for highly accurate material analysis and image recognition.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Wavelength-Multiplexed Diffractive Optical Processor Computes Hundreds of Linear Transformations in Parallel

Computing using light can potentially provide lower latency and reduced power consumption, benefiting from the parallelism of optical systems.

Briefs: Imaging

Lunar Lens: First Compact Flat Metalens Images Moon Surface

Using a new fabrication method, researchers developed a single-lens telescope and captured clear images of the lunar surface — achieving greater resolution of objects and much farther imaging distance than previous metalenses.

Application Briefs: Lighting

How Artificial Intelligence Makes Quality Traceable Down to Component Level

Manufacturers can meet industry requirements thanks to the exact inspection of the individual components that is continuously improved using AI.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Crack Image Quality Indicator

Engineers have developed a modeling and manufacturing technique that generates unique verification tools which simulate cracks in metals within X-ray setup part-testing geometries.

Briefs: Imaging

Vision Sensing is Becoming More Accessible

Vision sensing systems are needed to improve operations in many industrial applications, where they can be arranged to detect the presence, position, and other characteristics of objects and products.

Blog: Photonics/Optics

Light-Based Optical Computing for Ultrafast Electronics

Physicists achieved optical switching of a light signal at attosecond speeds to reach previously unattainable data transfer speeds.

Special Reports: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Optics & Photonics Innovations - April 2023

Demand for satellite communications bandwidth is quickly outstripping supply. The solution: optical, laser-based technologies. Read all about it – and other major photonics advances – in this...

Special Reports: Photonics/Optics

Aerospace & Defense Sensing - April 2023

NASA is applying sensor technologies to create a state-of-the-art dexterous humanoid robot, to monitor the structural health of inflatable habitats designed for Mars, and to test the first all-electric...

Briefs: Imaging

NEID Spectrometer Lights Up Path to Exoplanet Exploration

NASA's NEID tool delivered its first batch of data on the nearest and best-studied star, our Sun.

INSIDER: Imaging

Autonomous Robots to Help Modernize Grape, Wine Industry

This spring, a small army of Cornell University-developed PhytoPatholoBots (PPB) will be deployed to four grape breeding programs across the U.S. on a mission to guide the global...

INSIDER: Medical

Custom, 3D-Printed Robotic Hearts

The soft robotic models are patient-specific and could help clinicians zero in on the best implant for an individual.

Special Reports: Photonics/Optics

Lidar & Radar Solutions For ADAS/Autonomous Vehicles - March 2023

Lidar and radar technologies are critical to the safe navigation of self-driving or semi-autonomous cars and trucks. Read about the latest advances in this compendium of recent...

Briefs: Unmanned Systems

Using Small Drones to Monitor Volcanoes

A team at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has recently been assessing the potential for using a small, portable observation drone in remote regions.

Articles: Imaging

Artificial Intelligence in Design Engineering

In the age of industry digital transformation, visual data has received minimal focus yet can have significant impacts on a company's success.

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

AI Image Analysis, Li-Fi and Quantum Processor Among 2023 PRISM Awards Winners

Photonics West 2023 featured the 15th annual gathering of the Prism Awards, a ceremony hosted by SPIE that honors and recognizes industrial innovation in...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

NASA Targets 2026 for Launch of Israel's First Space Telescope

NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT). ULTRASAT, an ultraviolet observatory with a large field of...

INSIDER: Imaging

Ignition Achievement Gives US New Opportunity to Lead World's IFE Research

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s historic achievement of fusion ignition Dec. 5 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) positions the United States...

Q&A: Electronics & Computers

Tunable, Narrow Linewidth, Chip-Scale Lasers

Mateus Corato Zanarella is the lead author of a Nature Photonics article describing the creation of tunable visible lasers of very pure colors from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared that fit on a fingertip.

Special Reports: Aerospace

Test & Measurement - February 2023

From the racetrack to the battlefield to deep space missions, test innovations are improving device and system reliability while speeding time to market. Read about the latest advances – including the...