Current Trends in Miniature Camera Technology from Visible to Infrared: Optimization for Performance, Size, and Cost

Level: Intermediate Length: 7 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: The course is intended for those who need to learn how to engineer camera systems. This course is for graduate students, scientists, engineers, and managers who are involved in the development of systems that use compact camera modules, test them, or need to specify them. Attendees should have a basic knowledge of engineering or physics. No previous detailed knowledge of device physics or optics is assumed. Description: Digital camera systems have been an essential part of daily life since their development a little over two decades ago. While the general concepts behind digital still imaging are well known and documented, questions regarding the architecture and performance tradeoffs of compact camera modules are less widely known. For example, how can one minimize the size, weight, and power of a camera module while still meeting all image quality performance requirements? This course will provide participants with a working knowledge of compact camera module design, its challenges, and the associated engineering required to develop solutions for a particular application. The information in this course will help both novice and experienced engineers understand component tradeoffs and selection to minimize cost and risk. The first half of this day-long course provides background information on sources, sensor operation and selection, optical system analysis, fixed and variable focus considerations, an overview of image processing, as well as calibration considerations, ending with a discussion on benchmarking and test. Overall, the emphasis will be geared towards development with an eye on manufacturability. The second half of this course will cover applications using the material learned in the first half of the course. Selected applications will use examples from mobile imaging, autonomous vehicles, drones, AR/VR, and healthcare covering the spectral regions of visible to longwave thermal (8-12 um). The course is structured in such a way to provide key information about the design of compact camera modules using a variety of camera module development goals. During the second half of the course, specific choices of camera components will be explained based on the imposition of end-user specifications and how that impacts sensor selection, lens size, lens performance, and the image processor and electronics choices. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - develop a complete camera module specification as well as specifications for module sub-assemblies such as the optics (lens assembly, filters, etc.) and sensor - analyze the cost, performance, and size tradeoffs of a camera module for a given application based on sensor selection, lens parameters, and frame rate - explain how CMOS sensors convert light into an image - explain how thermal sensors convert radiation into an image - design a compact camera module using a top-down approach for a given application - list the major noise sources in both visible and infrared sensors and how to reduce them - explore calibration strategies for visible and thermal camera modules - explore a camera module’s key performance parameters based on measurement using RAW and processed images Instructor(s): Kevin J. Matherson is a director of optical engineering at Microsoft Corporation working on advanced optical technologies for AR/VR, machine vision, and consumer products. Prior to Microsoft, he participated in the design and development of compact cameras at HP and has more than 25 years of experience developing miniature camera modules for consumer, industrial, and medical products. His primary research interests focus on sensor characterization, optical system design and analysis, and the optimization of camera image quality. Matherson earned Master’s and PhD degrees in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona. David A. Dorn is a director of hardware development at Microsoft and is actively involved in the technical aspects of sensor subsystems for HoloLens. He has steered the development of future sensor modules from conceptual stages to mass production. In previous work with Ball Aerospace Inc., Dorn lead efforts that advanced both the engineering and science associated with space-based focal plane arrays (FPAs) at wavelengths from the UV to the IR. With a background originally in detectors, he has been able to optimize how focal plane packages and electronics can maximize the performance of imaging sensors. Dorn has led teams that have built FPAs for the WFC3, ACS, and STIS instruments aboard the Hubble Space telescope, the NIRCam and NIRSpec instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, in addition to FPAs for planetary instruments including HiRise and Ralph. He has authored 25 publications. Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2025 Course Held: 16 April 2025