Multihybrid artificial compound eye with varied ommatidia

A multihybrid artificial compound eye with varied ommatidia, comprising:

• an objective lenslet superposition array, having rings of lenslets, that each define an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for focusing multiple apertures of light into beams that form a first array of inverted sub-images with ommatidial chief rays oriented to adjoin the sub-images at the final image plane;
• a louver baffle, having array rings of hollow light conduits, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis and terminated by field stops, with sizes and shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for isolating sub-images to minimize gaps and overlap at the final image plane, rigidly conformed to said objective lenslet superposition array;
• a field lenslet superposition array, having rings of lenslets, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for reversing the field angles of multiple light beams and orienting their ommatidial chief rays to cross and form an array of intermediate pupil planes, optically coupled to said louver baffle;
• an erector lenslet apposition array, having rings of lenslets, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for refocusing multiple light beams to form a second array of upright sub-images with ommatidial chief rays oriented to adjoin the sub-images at the final image plane, optically coupled to said field lenslet superposition array;
• and
• a rear-optic relay, having at least one lens element, for crossing multiple light beams and relaying them to transform the second array of sub-images into a substantially flat and contiguous final image, optically coupled to said erector lenslet apposition array.

A multihybrid artificial compound eye with varied ommatidia, comprising:

• a conformal, concentric, substantially meniscus shaped objective lenslet superposition array, being manufactured by hot press molding and manufactured by injection molding and manufactured by diamond machining and having rings of lenslets, that each define an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments and on the second surface and subsequent two surfaces, concentric rings of:
• chromatic doublet lenslets with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for focusing multiple apertures of light into beams that form a first array of inverted sub-images with ommatidial chief rays oriented to adjoin the sub-images at the final image plane;
• a conformal, concentric, substantially meniscus shaped louver baffle, being manufactured with light absorbing surface material and having array rings of hollow light conduits, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis and terminated by field stops, with sizes and shapes that can be varied in annular increments and field stops that are hexagon shaped, for isolating and sizing sub-images to minimize gaps and overlap at the final image plane, rigidly conformed to said objective lenslet superposition array;
• a conformal, concentric, substantially meniscus shaped field lenslet superposition array, being manufactured by hot press molding and manufactured by injection molding and manufactured by diamond machining and having rings of lenslets, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for reversing the field angles of multiple light beams and orienting their ommatidial chief rays to cross and form an array of intermediate pupil planes, optically coupled to said louver baffle;
• a conformal, concentric, substantially meniscus shaped erector lenslet apposition array, being manufactured by hot press molding and manufactured by injection molding and manufactured by diamond machining and having rings of lenslets, that are each aligned to an ommatidial axis, with surface shapes that can be varied in annular increments, for refocusing multiple light beams to form a second array of upright sub-images with ommatidial chief rays oriented to adjoin the sub-images at the final image plane, optically coupled to said field lenslet superposition array;
• a rear-optic relay, having at least one lens element and a single optical axis that is coaxial to the central ommatidial axis and multiple lens elements that can be moved along the optical axis to alter the magnification of the second array of sub-images, for crossing multiple light beams and relaying them to transform the second array of sub-images into a substantially flat and contiguous final image, optically coupled to said erector lenslet apposition array;
• a mosaic detector array with readout electronics, for capturing and storing digital images, optically coupled to said rear-optic relay;
• and
• an image intensified eyepiece system, for amplifying low intensity light images and making them visible to the human eye, optically coupled to said rear-optic relay.