Spectral characterization of a prototype SFA camera for joint visible and NIR acquisition

Abstract

Multispectral acquisition improves machine vision since it permits capturing more information on object surface properties than color imaging. The concept of spectral filter arrays has been developed recently and allows multispectral single shot acquisition with a compact camera design. Due to filter manufacturing difficulties, there was, up to recently, no system available for a large span of spectrum, i.e., visible and Near Infra-Red acquisition. This article presents the achievement of a prototype of camera that captures seven visible and one near infra-red bands on the same sensor chip. A calibration is proposed to characterize the sensor, and images are captured. Data are provided as supplementary material for further analysis and simulations. This opens a new range of applications in security, robotics, automotive and medical fields.