Optical flow on a linear compound array

Abstract

ABSTRACT The compound eye of the insect in its simplest concept create s an image from the environment over a solid angle,yet in practice angular resolution varies signi cantly acr oss most compound eyes. We have examined the case oflinear optical (paraxial) arrays in which optical axes are p arallel. We demonstrate that a paraxial array directlymeasures the speed of translation orthogonal to the optical axes, while when rotated, it detects range as a ratioof optical ow and angular velocity. A series of experiments was conducted to demonstrate the viability of thedevice.Keywords: compound eye, optics, optical ow, range, egomotion 1. INTRODUCTION Most imaging arrays capture light from a continuously varyi ng direction in space. The compound eye of theinsect in its simplest concept creates an image from the envi ronment across a solid angle. A pinhole cameraproduces an image of a solid angle such that straight lines in space are captured as straight lines on the imageplane. Yet insect compound eyes do not have all of their optic al axes arranged evenly across a spherical surface.The optical axes in a compound eye do not all intersect. Many ying insects have a foveal area in frontal partof the eye adapted to aerial pursuit in which optical axes of a djacent ommatidia are almost parallel.