Development of the electronics system prototype of the panoramic camera for space applications

The stereoscopic panoramic camera is a kind of important optical payload for space applications. It can image the full 360° in azimuth to the goal scene and obtain high resolution three-dimensional images. Many science investigations can be conducted by scientists with these images, such as the analysis for the planet terrain and the geology. This kind of payload has common features such as light-weight, miniaturization, and lower power consumption. This paper presents the development of a stereoscopic, panoramic imaging system for space applications, which is a typical staring binocular stereo imaging system and consists of two identical digital cameras. Each camera was build based upon a CMOS APS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Active Pixel Sensors) and a high density FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The camera has the features with the weight of about 210g and the power consumption of about 660mW. In this paper, the design details of the electronics for the specifications above are emphasized, and the designs and implements of the FPGA are particularly discussed. Finally, the verification and experiment results for the stereoscopic panoramic camera show that the design methodology is feasible.