A CCD/CMOS image motion sensor

Presents a 1D image motion sensor with a 115-pixel linear image sensor and analog CCD/CMOS processors that correlates two image frames that are spatially shifted between -5 and +5 pixels, to estimate object motion over a range of +or-1 to +or-5000 pixels/s. The CCD/CMOS smart sensor chip is fabricated with a standard double poly, double metal, 2- mu m CMOS/CCD process available through MOSIS. A block diagram of the image motion sensor is shown. It consists of 115 photodiodes (200 mu m*52 mu m). Each photodiode is connected to two CMOS sample-and-hold circuits for analog storage of two image frames. The core of the image correlator is a CCD (charge coupled device) absolute value circuit and is shown. For proper operation of the image sensor under various lighting conditions, there are additional CCD processors to provide feedback to control the integration time of the image sensor. There are several strategies for operating the motion sensor depending on the range of object motion and lighting conditions.<>