Grant: Idea to Innovation

Single-shot ultra-high-speed imaging is of great significance to capture transient phenomena in physics, biology, and chemistry in real time. Existing techniques, however, have a restricted application scope, a low sequence depth, or a limited pixel count. To overcome these limitations, we recently invented a new photography technology-termed compressed optical-streaking ultra-high-speed photography (COSUP), which integrates the computational imaging method termed compressed sensing into the image acquisition process of a standard CMOS camera. In this regard, without modifying the structure of the sensor and by using all off-the-shelf components, COSUP exhibits the enhancement of the imaging speed of a CMOS camera by over four orders of magnitude. As a universal imaging platform, COSUP is suitable to most existing CCD and CMOS cameras, and can be used for a wide range of wavelengths and for acquiring various optical characteristics such as polarization. Besides scientific experiments, COSUP is poised to aid other communities, including the movie industry and sports photography. Finally, COSUP is a significantly economical alternative to existing ultra-high-speed cameras. A market study funded by NSERC and INRS has demonstrated a huge commercial interest in COSUP. This NSERC I2I Phase I project aims to further developing the COSUP technique toward a commercial product. In total, three Aims are proposed to integrate the proof-of-concept COSUP system into a compact prototype, to improve image reconstruction speed in COSUP, and to demonstrate ultrahigh-speed imaging using the COSUP prototype. The solid technical foundation and highly experienced team will ensure the on-time execution and fast progress of this project. Throughout this project, we will closely work with our industrial partners for future technology transfer and device commercialization.