A visual circuit for lateral motion detection

Abstract

This paper presents a design and implementation of an intelligent vision chip for detecting lateral object motion. We propose a correlation interconnection scheme for the outputs of a photocircuit array to infer motion direction of nearby objects as well as the tendency of approaching of a moving object. This design facilitates lateral obstacle avoidance of an intelligent vehicle. The circuit has been successfully simulated by Hspice and integrated into a sensor chip of 20x20 pixel array. The vision chip has been fabricated with TSMC 0.35 mu m 2P4M CMOS process. The chip area is 2.48 mm x2.42 mm. The function of photocells, registers and correlation in extreme cases are verified.