
MEMS auto-focus actuator for camera sensors
MEMS Drive has launched a micromachined Auto-Focus module that can be used to improve the quality of images from automotive camera.
The MEMS auto-focus technique. launched at AutoSens in Brussels today, adds a very thin layer of silicon actuator under the image sensor to move the sensor itself rather than moving the optics.
The MEMS Sensor|AF module adjusts the image sensor position to obtain accurate focus on the subject and can achieve highest quality image by moving image sensor out of plane and avoiding moving optics improves reliability to boost the lifetime of the sensor sub-systems.
Compared to the traditional lens-based system, the MEMS Sensor|AF modules provide micron-level precision for greater focus accuracy to deliver dramatically improved speed, power and precision in a car camera module which has to survive in harsh environment.
The MEMS approach also compensates for focus drift caused by assembly and temperature variation and provides a Faster settling time that n lens-based auto-focus designs.
It has also developed the first 5-axis optical image stabiliser technology using its MEMS technology, This enables clearer images at low light condition and long life cycle for extensive usage. Both Auto-Focus and MEMS OIS are aimed at providing more clarity from camera sensors in ADAS and driverless car systems.
This moves three times faster and ten times more precisely by actuating 0.4 micrometers (less than a pixel) compared to 3-5 micrometers on lens-based OIS. This allows the image sensor staying stabilized in longer exposure time and leads to stabler image and unblur video at night in a low light environment. In our internal functional tests, it proves that the actuator is durable and performs effectively for long lifetime. The actuator has achieved 1.9 billion full stroke cycles without degradation of camera performance and test is still ongoing.
The company is working with a Tier-1 OEM on the Auto-Focus module development. The development team is situated globally, with offices in Los Angeles, Nanjing, Taipei, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
