Design of a Foveated Imaging System Using a Two-Axis MEMS Mirror

Abstract

We present a novel foveated imaging system which consists of three major components: a foveated imager, a peripheral imager, and a 2D scanning sub-system. The foveated imager captures a narrow field of view (FOV) with high angular resolution to mimic the foveated region of interest (FRoI), and the peripheral imager captures a wide FOV with low angular resolution to provide the peripheral region for context. The scanning system, implemented with a single-element two-axis MEMS mirror, is capable of sweeping the FRoI across the entire FOV at a maximum speed of 100Hz. A bench prototype and experimental results are presented as verifications of our optical design concept and feasibility.