Development of a bio-inspired optical system that mimics accommodation and lighting regulation like the human eye.

Abstract

Bio-inspired optical systems have recently been developed using polarizers and liquid or rigid lenses. In this work, we propose a bio-inspired opto-mechatronic system that imitates the accommodation and regulation of light intensity as the human eye does. The system uses a polymeric lens as a cornea, an adjustable diaphragm as an iris, a tunable solid elastic lens as a crystalline lens, and a commercial sensor as a retina. We also present the development of the electronic control system to accommodate and regulate the amount of light that enters the system, for which two stepper motors, an Arduino control system, and light and movement sensors are used. The characterization of the system is presented together with the results obtained, where it can be seen that the system works in an acceptable range as the human eye does.