A research team is said to have invented a video camera (there is already a prototype) that is fully self-powered. This means it does not use any known energy source, such as batteries.
The new revolutionary camera can take a photo per second, indefinitely. Scientists have designed a pixel that, in addition to measuring light, can also convert it into electricity.
Although digital cameras and solar panels have different purposes (the former count light while the second devices convert light into energy), both devices are made of the same essential components.
At the heart of each digital camera is an image sensor, a chip with millions of pixels. The key that allows the device to operate a pixel is the LED, which generates electricity when exposed to light. This mechanism allows each pixel to measure the intensity of the light falling on it. The same method (photodiode) is also used in solar panels to convert light into electricity.
The photodiode in a pixel of the camera is used in photoconductive waiting, while in a solar cell is used in the photovoltaic model.
Shree K. Nayar, TC Chang Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering, collaborated on the new camera with research engineer Daniel Sims of BS'14 and consultant Mikhail Fridberg of ADSP Consulting. The scientists built an image sensor of 30×40 pixels. In their prototype camera, which is contained in a 3D printed case, the photodiode of each pixel always functions as a photovoltaic as well.
Ο σχεδιασμός του εικονοστοιχείου είναι πολύ απλός σύμφωνα με τους επιστήμονες, και χρησιμοποιεί μόνο δύο τρανζίστορ. Κατά τη duration κάθε κύκλου σύλληψης εικόνας, τα εικονοστοιχεία χρησιμοποιούνται για να καταγράψουν και να διαβάσουν την εικόνα αρχικά, και στη συνέχεια, για να συλλέξουν την ενέργεια και να φορτίσουν – τροφοδοτήσουν τον αισθητήρα. Ο αισθητήρας εικόνας εναλλάσσεται συνεχώς μεταξύ λήψης εικόνας και συλλογής ισχύος.
When the camera is not used to take pictures, it can be used to generate power for other devices, such as a phone or a clock.
The survey was funded by the Maritime Research Bureau. The team will present her work at the International Congress of Computational Photography at Houston's Rice University, at 24-26 April, according to Sciencecodex.
