Engineers from the City University of New York, the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems have developed a compact, lightweight sensor system that can be fitted to drones for remote crop monitoring. The system uses infrared imaging and flat-optics technology to identify crops needing irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, potentially reducing grocery costs. The sensor, made with a thin layer of vanadium dioxide, can switch between edge detection and detailed infrared imaging. The research, led by Professor Madhu Bhaskaran and Dr. Michele Cotrufo, is published in Nature Communications.
Innovative Sensor System for Remote Crop Monitoring
An international team of engineers has developed a compact, lightweight sensor system with infrared imaging capabilities that could be easily fitted to a drone for remote crop monitoring. This flat-optics technology could potentially replace traditional optical lens applications for environmental sensing across various industries. The system’s ability to rapidly switch between edge detection and extracting detailed infrared information without creating large volumes of data or requiring bulky external processors is a significant advancement in the field.
The sensor system could potentially lower grocery prices as it would enable farmers to identify which crops require irrigation, fertilisation, and pest control, rather than applying a blanket approach. This could potentially increase their harvests. The system’s ability to switch to a detailed infrared image could allow farmers to gather more information when the remote sensor identifies areas of potential pest infestations.
The Science Behind the Sensor System
The prototype sensor system comprises a filter made with a thin layer of a material called vanadium dioxide. This material can switch between edge detection and detailed infrared imaging. The filter’s temperature change causes the vanadium dioxide to transform from an insulating state to a metallic one, which is how the processed image shifts from a filtered outline to an unfiltered infrared image.
According to TMOS Chief Investigator Professor Madhu Bhaskaran, materials like vanadium dioxide add a fantastic tuning capability to render devices ‘smart’. These materials could significantly contribute to futuristic flat-optics devices that can replace technologies with traditional lenses for environmental sensing applications. These devices would be ideal for use in drones and satellites, which require low size, weight, and power capacity.
The Potential of Flat-Optics Technology
Flat optics technologies have the potential to transform countless industries. Traditional optical elements have long been the bottleneck preventing the further miniaturisation of devices. The ability to replace or complement traditional optical elements with thin-film optics breaks through that bottleneck.
The design and materials used make the filter amenable to mass-manufacturing. It also operates at temperatures compatible with standard manufacturing techniques, making it well-placed to integrate with commercially available systems and therefore move from research to real-world usage rapidly.
The Future of the Sensor System
The sensor system’s ability to switch between processing operations, from edge detection to capturing detailed infrared images, is significant. While a few recent demonstrations have achieved analogue edge detection using metasurfaces, most of the devices demonstrated so far are static. Their functionality is fixed in time and cannot be dynamically altered or controlled.
However, the ability to dynamically reconfigure processing operations is key for metasurfaces to be able to compete with digital image processing systems. This is what the team of engineers has developed. The research, conducted by engineers at the City University of New York (CUNY), the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS), is published in Nature Communications.
Intellectual Property and Commercialization
RMIT holds a granted US patent and has a pending Australian patent application for its method of producing vanadium dioxide films, which may be suitable for a broad range of applications. The design and materials used make the filter amenable to mass-manufacturing. It also operates at temperatures compatible with standard manufacturing techniques, making it well-placed to integrate with commercially available systems and therefore move from research to real-world usage rapidly.
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