Teledyne e2v presents a vision of the key role that sensors will play in smart cities

Thierry Ligozat, Chief Innovation Officer at Teledyne e2v, delivered the keynote speech at the APAC Innovation Summit 2017 – “Smart City. Connected City.” His theme was “Image and Vision Sensors, Systems and Applications for Smart Cities”.

From the 7-8 September, the two day conference, jointly organised by the APAC Innovation Summit and Hong Kong Science Park, focused on how technology can drive transformation at both city and regional levels. It explored the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong and how smart, resilient planning can successfully be realised in neighboring countries.

In his keynote speech, Thierry outlined how smart cities will rely on smart image and vision sensor technology to collect and interpret visual data and assist in decision making to become more interconnected, intelligent and productive. Thierry illustrated his talk with some examples of potential smart city applications, including smart public lighting, intelligent traffic systems, industrial safety, transport safety and medical applications.

Thierry explained the composition of vision systems with an optical element, a sensor, electronic controls, image processing and optionally a dedicated lighting system. He then showcased Teledyne e2v’s CMOS sensor technology that offers direct sensing capabilities from beyond the visible spectrum, covering Ultraviolet (UV) to Near Infrared (NIR) for night vision or medical applications. This technology can be used to acquire images in day or night mode with a large field of view while still being able to read small details like a car number plate. CMOS sensors can also provide cutting-edge 3D vision that enables users to add depth to data, avoid false detection and improve robustness.