Research on performances of back-illuminated scientific CMOS for astronomical observations

To evaluate performances of a back-illuminated scientific CMOS (sCMOS) camera for astronomical observations, comparison tests between Andor Marana sCMOS and Andor iKon-L 936 CCD cameras were conducted in a laboratory and on a telescope. The laboratory tests showed that the readout noise of the sCMOS camera is about half lower, the dark current is about 17 times higher, the dynamic range is lower in the 12-bit setting and higher in the 16-bit setting, and the linearity and bias stability are comparable relative to those of the CCD camera. In field tests, we observed the open cluster M67 with the sCMOS and CCD cameras on a 60 cm telescope. Unlike the CCD camera, the sCMOS camera has a dual-amplifier architecture. Since a 16-bit image of the sCMOS camera is composed of two 12-bit images sampled with 12-bit high gain and low gain amplifiers simultaneously, it is not real 16-bit output data. The evaluation tests indicated that the dual-amplifier architecture of the sCMOS camera leads to a decline of photometric stability by about six times around specific pixel counts. For photometry of bright objects with similar magnitudes that require high frame rates, the sCMOS camera under 12-bit setting is a good choice. Therefore, the sCMOS camera is fitted with survey observations of variable objects requiring short exposure times, mostly less than 1 s, and high frame rates. It also satisfies the requirements for an offset guiding instrument owing to its high sensitivity, high temporal resolution and high stability.

Single-Shot Temporal Contrast Enhancement Measurement of a Plasma Mirror by a Chirped Pulse

We focused on a single-shot method for directly measuring the temporal contrast enhancement of a single plasma mirror by analyzing the spectrum of a chirped pulse spatiotemporally overlapped with the igniting laser used for generating a plasma mirror. Experimentally, temporal contrast enhancement of 102 by one plasma mirror was successfully measured in a hundred picosecond timescale and was consistent with the theory. This single-shot measurement method caused no degradation on the performance of the plasma mirror, which was proved by monitoring the efficiency and far-field pattern of the igniting laser after the plasma mirror. Combined with calorimeters and CCD cameras, this method is expected to realize the single-shot online diagnosis of plasma mirrors. This method is expected to be an efficient approach for measuring the temporal contrast enhancement of the plasma mirrors.

CHARACTERIZATION OF MODERN CCD AND CMOS SENSORS FOR SKY SURVEYS

Here we review the efforts we take in a newly established laboratory inside Institute of Physics in Prague in order to characterize modern large-format CCD and CMOS sensors for sky survey applications. While the laboratory is primarily established in order to participate in low-level CCD sensor characterization for LSST project, we also managed to perform a thorough laboratory testing of recently released Andor Marana sCMOS (which is especially interesting for wide-field sky monitoring applications due to its large format, backilluminated design, high achievable frame rate and low read-out noise), as well as detailed measurements of response non-linearity of Moravian Instruments G4-16000 CCD cameras (based on large-format Kodak KAF-16803 chip) used in several robotic telescopes. We briefly review the results acquired on these cameras, as well as hardware and software we developed for the laboratory.

Vision-force guided precise robotic assembly for 2.5D components in a semistructured environment

Purpose Many manufacturing sites require precision assembly. Particularly, similar to cell phones, assembly at the sub-mm scale is not easy, even for humans. In addition, the system should assemble each part with adequate force and avoid breaking the circuits with excessive force. The purpose of this study is to assemble high precision components with relatively reasonable vision devices compared to previous studies. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a vision-force guided precise assembly system using a force sensor and two charge coupled device (CCD) cameras without an expensive 3-dimensional (3D) sensor or computer-aided design model. The system accurately estimates 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) poses from a 2D image in real time and assembles parts with the proper force. Findings In this experiment, three connectors are assembled on a printed circuit board. This system obtains high accuracy under 1 mm and 1 degree error, which shows that this system is effective. Originality/value This is a new method for sub-mm assembly using only two CCD cameras and one force sensor.