CMOS image sensor house SmartSens and MEMS Drive are teaming up to research which new technologies can be created by integrating microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with image sensing chips, specifically in the realm of chip-level optical image stabilization (OIS).
Besides conventional applications such as mobile cameras, image stabilization is important in other applications as well, such as security monitoring, artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning and autonomous vehicles.
In terms of autonomous vehicles, for example, CMOS image sensors must respond to factors while driving such as uneven roads and air turbulence that could cause blurred images. Image stabilization capabilities help increase efficiency in both the identification and overall AI system.
Under the agreement, SmartSens will introduce chip-level anti-vibration technology directly into CMOS image sensors for non-mobile applications. This was previously only available in high-end DSLR cameras.
As the technology progresses, the two companies explore how chip-level stabilization technology can be used beyond the field of DSLR cameras.
