Recently, Teledyne Technologies launched three industrial CMOS image sensors, with resolutions ranging from 1.3 million pixels to 67 million pixels, certified through the Delta space certification method and radiation testing. These industrial CMOS image sensors are designed, manufactured, and tested in Grenoble, France, and Seville, Spain, with aerospace testing screening conducted at the Grenoble facility. In the aerospace field, some engineers may use commercial CMOS image sensors; however, if these commercial off-the-shelf products are not subjected to aerospace testing screening, it means they bear the risk of failure or malfunction once in space.
The three CMOS image sensors have passed U1 (similar to the ESA ESCC9020 standard) or U3 (NASA’s Class 3 standard specifically designed for image sensors) screening. The devices have undergone sampling and radiation characterization testing in specialized facilities, including single event latch-up (SEL), single event effects (SEE), and single event functional interruption (SEFI) failure or error testing. These CMOS image sensors feature rich embedded capabilities, including subsampling, multiple regions of interest (ROI), defect pixel correction, and high dynamic range capabilities.
For star sensors and surveillance cameras, Ruby 1.3M USV is a radiation-hardened 1.3MP (1280×1024) global shutter image sensor optimized for aerospace systems with constraints on size, weight, power consumption (SWaP), and cost. This product features a pixel size of 5.3µm and comes in a 12.7×12.7mm CLCC package, compatible with low-cost 1/1.8 inch lenses, with very low power consumption (≤200mW), and is available in monochrome and color versions.
Emerald Gen2 12M USV is a compact 12MP (4096×3072) global shutter image sensor with a pixel size of 2.8µm, available in monochrome and color versions. It features a very low read noise performance of less than 3 electrons, providing excellent image quality and the ability to operate in high-contrast scenes. It includes ROI functionality, allowing Teledyne e2v to offer an 8.9MP ROI image sensor in the same package, enabling aerospace engineers to create smaller cameras by using smaller optical components. The sensor also features LVDS and MIPI outputs, simplifying integration.
Emerald 67M USV is a 67MP (8192×8192) resolution image sensor with global shutter pixel size of 2.5µm, offering high compactness among its peers. This 8K high-resolution device can cover large areas for Earth observation and is also suitable for spatial domain awareness applications, allowing it to cover a wider field of view. Emerald 67M USV features low noise (<3e- @ 12 bits), providing excellent image quality in low-light conditions, and a frame rate of up to 65 fps @10 bits, capable of delivering clear images at very high speeds. This image sensor supports monochrome or color video and can be used for multispectral imaging.
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