CHAPTER

Optical Sensors and Actuators

The eye
The human eye, like that of other vertebrates, is a marvelous, complex sensor allowing us to
perceive the world around us in minute detail and true colors. In fact, the eye is akin to a
video camera. It consists of a system of lenses (the cornea and crystalline lens), an aperture
(iris and pupil), an image plane (retina), and a lens cover (eye lids). In humans and animals that
prey, the eyes point forward to create binocular vision with excellent depth perception. Many
prey animals have side-facing eyes to increase their field of view, but the vision is monocular
and lacks perception of depth. The eyelids, in addition to protecting the eye, also keep it
clean and moist by distributing tears as well as lubricants (the conjunctiva) and protect it from
dust and foreign objects in conjunction with the eyelashes. The front dome of the eye is made
of the cornea, a clear, fixed lens. This is a unique organ, as it has no blood vessels and is
nourished by tears and the fluid inside the eye sphere. Behind it is the iris, which controls the
amount of light that enters the eye. On the periphery of the iris there is a series of slits that
allow fluid to pass out from the eye sphere. This passes nutrients to the front of the eye and
relieves the pressure in the eye (when this is not perfectly regulated one has glaucoma, a
condition that can affect the retina and eventually can cause blindness). Behind is the crystalline lens, an adjustable lens that allows the eye to focus on objects as close as about
10 cm and as far as infinity. The lens is controlled by the ciliary muscle. When this muscle
loses some function, the ability of the lens to focus is impaired, leading to the need
for corrective action (glasses or surgery). The lens itself can cloud over time (cataracts), a
condition that requires replacement of the lens. At the back of the eye lies the optical sensor
properthe retina. It is made of two types of cells: cone cells that perceive color and rod or
cylindrical cells that are responsible for low-light (night) vision. The cone cells are divided into
three types, sensitive to red, green, and blue light, with a total of about 6 million cells, most
of them in the center of the retina (the macula). Rod cells are distributed mostly on the
peripheral parts of the retina and are responsible for low-light vision. They do not perceive
color but are as much as 500 times more sensitive than cone cells. There are also many more
rod cellsas many as 120 million of them. The retina is connected to the visual cortex in
the brain through the optical nerve. Although the lens of the eye is adjustable, the size of the
optical ball also plays a role in vision. Individuals with larger eyeballs are nearsighted, those
with smaller eyeballs are farsighted.
The sensitivity of the human eye ranges from roughly 10
6 cd/m2 (dark night, roddominated vision, essentially monochromatic) to about 106 cd/m2 (bright sunlight, conedominated vision, full color). This is a vast dynamic range (120 dB). The spectral sensitivity of
the eye is divided into four partially overlapping zones. Blue cones are sensitive between
about 370 nm and 530 nm, with peak sensitivity at 437 nm; green cones between 450
and 640 nm, with peak sensitivity at 533 nm; and red cones between 480 and 700 nm, with
peak sensitivity at 564 nm. Rods are sensitive between about 400 and 650 nm, with peak at
498 nm. This peak is in the blue-green range. For this reason, low-light vision tends to
be dark green.

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