Bionic eye technology could improve manufacturing
Scientists are developing a 'bionic eye' that could be used by manufacturers to improve monitoring of industrial assembly lines. At the back of the human eye is a specialised layer of cells called the retina, which captures light information. This information is then converted into electrical signals and sent via the optic nerve to the brain, where a visual image is produced. A team of engineers from Imperial College London are replicating this part of the eye, creating an artificial retina that captures light to build an image of its surrounding environment. The researchers behind the EU-funded 'SeeBetter' project suggest replicating the retina on a single, specialised silicon chip will enable more accurate artificial visual sensing in industrial processes. The team, working in conjunction with the Institute of Neuroinformatics in Zurich, and international research centre IMEC, aim to combine the artificial retina with a simple software infrastructure, enabling information to be processed in a similar way to the brain. When applied in industry, this could allow a robot to process and react to information, which could for example, enable manufacturers to recognise faults much quicker in the products they are making.
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