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

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Quiz: Imaging
Television was king during the second half of the 20th century — what do you know about the history of the technology?
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5 Ws: Photonics/Optics
North Carolina State University engineers have built a tiny spectrometer that is orders of magnitude smaller than current technologies and can accurately measure wavelengths of light from ultraviolet to the near infrared.
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Briefs: Software
A new computer vision technique developed by MIT engineers significantly speeds up the characterization of newly synthesized electronic materials. The technique automatically analyzes images of printed semiconducting samples and quickly estimates two key electronic properties for each sample. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Imaging
Engineers at NASA Langley Research Center have developed a cutting-edge thermal inspection technology that enhances defect detection on low-emissivity surfaces by eliminating false readings caused by infrared reflections. Read on to learn more.
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Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
For loading and unloading workpiece carriers containing wafers of different sizes in an automated process prior to PECVD coating, acp systems has developed a robotic solution aided by image processing for a leading manufacturer of space solar technology. Read on to learn more.
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Articles: Imaging
Patent-pending imaging technologies created in Purdue University’s College of Engineering could be developed and commercialized for applications as diverse as medical imaging, autonomous navigation, surveillance, microscopy, and advanced manufacturing. Read on to learn more about it.
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Briefs: Medical
Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses. But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deeply it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images. Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles the usual depth limit of metabolic imaging. Read on to learn more.
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Application Briefs: Software
Why should you know the right trigger strategy? Read on to find out.
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INSIDER: Aerospace
The skies are getting crowded. Every day, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration manages tens of thousands of flights — from drones and helicopters to commercial jets. As air traffic...
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Application Briefs: Aerospace
When Hibiscus is sent into orbit at the end of 2026, it will open new possibilities to combat global warming and increase heat efficiency for urban planners.
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White Papers: Imaging
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The Next Wave of Machine Vision Interfaces — Thunderbolt, RocEv2, and Embedded
One of the biggest game changers for machine vision has been the introduction and standardization of interfaces. In the earlier years of this century GigE Vision...

INSIDER: RF & Microwave Electronics
A new imaging technique developed by MIT researchers could enable quality-control robots in a warehouse to peer through a cardboard shipping box and see that the handle of a...
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NASA Spinoff: RF & Microwave Electronics
Satellite builders now have the option of using small, collapsible dish antennas made by Tendeg LLC of Louisville, CO, which developed them with funding and cooperation from NASA, along with the patented technology developed at JPL. Read on to learn more.
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On-Demand Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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Advancements in silicon photonic and micro-optic technologies are driving the need to perform precision alignments down to sub-micrometer levels. As cutting-edge optical and...
Special Reports: Software
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AI In Product Design & Manufacturing - June 2025
How swarm robotics could replace the assembly line in aircraft manufacturing…why AI‐powered engineering matters in automotive lightweighting…elevating welding operations with adaptive...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes. When deployed, this technology uses throttled fluid flow from a companion device for passive propulsion. Read on to learn more.
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Quiz: Imaging
Used to discover hidden heat patterns, thermal imaging cameras (TICs) can also save lives. They’re also used in everyday life. How much do you know about TICs? Find out with this quiz.
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On-Demand Webinars: Imaging
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Until now, researchers have had to choose between thermal and visible imaging: One reveals heat signatures while the other provides structural...
Technology & Society: Software
Desperately wanting to bridge the gap between the deaf and people who don't know sign language, a Florida Atlantic University team decided to use AI and computer engineering to build a smart, real-time ASL system.
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Articles: Software
Machine vision is a cornerstone of modern manufacturing quality control, ensuring product consistency and reliability. However, many facilities face a dilemma: while their existing vision systems remain mechanically sound, their analytical capabilities lag behind evolving manufacturing requirements. Read on to learn the solution.
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Briefs: Medical
New technology developed by researchers at the University of Houston could revolutionize medical imaging and lead to faster, more precise and more cost-effective alternatives to traditional diagnostic methods. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Medical
Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses. But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deeply it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images. Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles the usual depth limit of metabolic imaging. Read on to learn more.
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INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but...
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INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
In the field of technical imaging, the term “trigger” is often used synonymously with the term frame-synchronization (or f-sync) signal. In the...
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INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
A beam of light doesn’t sound like a material that can create a knot. Until now.
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Briefs: Imaging
Daniel Gehrig and Davide Scaramuzza from the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich have combined a novel bio-inspired camera with AI to develop a system that can detect obstacles around a car much quicker than current systems and using less computational power. Read on to learn more about the study, which is published in Nature.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a compact, single-shot polarization imaging system that can provide a complete picture of polarization. Read on to learn more about it.
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Scientists have developed multi-modal 3D object detection methods that combine 3D LiDAR data with 2D RGB images taken by standard cameras. While the fusion of 2D images and 3D LiDAR data leads to more accurate 3D detection results, it still faces its own set of challenges, with accurate detection of small objects remaining difficult. Read on to learn more about it.
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Blog: Lighting Technology
A research team has recently developed a neuromorphic exposure control system that revolutionizes machine vision under extreme lighting variations.
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