The researchers — who are based at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — integrated a porous alumina membrane below the surface of the pinhole array. This membrane was used as a template to fabricate a high-density perovskite nanowire array of photoreceptors that mimic the ommatidia design in biological compound eyes. Metal wires were used to electrically transmit visual signals for further processing on a computer. The sensor can acquire panoramic images with a field of view of 140° and can be expanded to 220° when used in a binocular arrangement that offers stereopsis vision. The team also showed that their image sensor can be placed on a drone and used to track the continuous motion of a quadruped robot.

Original reference: Sci. Robot. 9, eadi8666 (2024)