Microscope with 3D mapping capabilities for planetary exploration applications

Michel Doucet; Peter Dietrich; François Châteauneuf

doi:10.1117/12.980886

18 December 2012 Microscope with 3D mapping capabilities for planetary exploration applications

Michel Doucet, Peter Dietrich, François Châteauneuf

Proceedings Volume 8550, Optical Systems Design 2012; 855019 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.980886
Event: SPIE Optical Systems Design, 2012, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

An innovative microscope system had been developed by MDA and INO for planetary exploration applications funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The device is designed for the capture of low and high resolution images, providing multispectral and colour images, and for 3-D mapping of soil or rock samples. The system consists of a microscope equipped with a monochromatic CMOS sensor, a pattern projector and active multispectral illumination. The compact and lightweight device is intended to be mounted on the robotic arm of a planetary exploration rover developed by the CSA. In image capture mode, the microscope operates on a quite large 400-900 nm spectral band. The illumination of the samples is done using LEDs of different colors turned ON and OFF in sequence providing calibrated reflectance images as well as synthesized color images. Fluorescence imaging is supported by UV illumination at 365 nm. The microscope consists only of fixed optical components. Changing the numerical aperture and resolution of the microscope is done by changing the diameter of the system aperture stop and by pixel binning. The 3-D mapping is done with the Moiré phase shift method. The projection of the Moiré patterns on samples is done with a specially designed video projector equipped with a TI DLP while the microscope acts as the camera. Both the microscope and the projector are modified Offner reflective configurations. The system allows the generation of superb high resolution color images with very large depth of field (focus stacking) or color textured 3-D maps from a set of images acquired at different heights using the 3-D map for the segmentation of the in-focus pixels in each image. This paper briefly describes the concept of the instrument and details the optical design of the optical system. An overview of the key performances is also provided.

Citation Download Citation

Michel Doucet, Peter Dietrich, and François Châteauneuf "Microscope with 3D mapping capabilities for planetary exploration applications", Proc. SPIE 8550, Optical Systems Design 2012, 855019 (18 December 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.980886

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