Research Archive
CurvACE: CURVed Artificial Compound Eyes
The CurvACE project (2009–2013) was a pioneering research initiative funded under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The project set out to develop bio-inspired artificial compound eyes — miniature curved optical sensors modeled on insect vision — for applications in robotics, autonomous navigation, and surveillance.
Note: This research was conducted under the original CurvACE project. Curvace has since evolved to focus on advanced optical and fiber optic sensing for security applications. We are not affiliated with the original research consortium, but we honor the scientific legacy of this domain and the foundational work it represents.
Consortium Partners
The CurvACE consortium brought together leading European research institutions with complementary expertise in micro-optics, neuromorphic engineering, and bio-inspired design:
- EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) — Project coordination, neuromorphic photoreceptor design, and optic flow algorithms
- Fraunhofer Institute — Microlens array fabrication and curved substrate integration
- Université d'Aix-Marseille / CNRS — Bio-inspired motion detection, insect vision modeling, and adaptive photoreceptor circuits
- University of Tübingen — Visual processing algorithms and sensor characterization
Research Contributions
The project produced significant advances in several areas of optical sensing:
- Curved microlens arrays: Fabrication of flexible optical arrays that could be bent onto curved surfaces, achieving wide fields of view (180°+) with uniform angular resolution
- Neuromorphic photoreceptors: Adaptive analog circuits inspired by insect photoreceptor cells, capable of operating across 5+ decades of light intensity without saturation
- Optic flow computation: Real-time algorithms for computing visual motion from the output of compound-eye sensors, suitable for embedded systems with limited processing power
- Visual Processing Library (VPL): Open-source software tools for reading, visualizing, and processing data from CurvACE sensors
- Miniaturized prototypes: Fully functional cylindrical and planar compound-eye demonstrators measuring just a few centimeters in diameter
Key Publications
The consortium published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Notable publications include work in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), Journal of the Royal Society Interface, and various IEEE conferences on sensors, robotics, and bio-inspired systems. These publications documented the design, fabrication, and characterization of the artificial compound-eye prototypes and their application to autonomous navigation tasks.
From Research to Security Technology
The principles demonstrated by the CurvACE project — distributed optical sensing, adaptive light processing, and wide-field spatial awareness — are directly relevant to modern security technology. Fiber optic perimeter intrusion detection systems use distributed optical sensing along cables. Panoramic surveillance cameras use multi-sensor arrays inspired by compound-eye architecture. Video analytics algorithms share computational ancestry with the optic flow methods developed during the project.
Curvace today builds on these foundational ideas, applying advanced optical and fiber optic sensing to protect critical infrastructure, commercial facilities, and high-security perimeters.
Archived Materials
The original CurvACE project website content (2009–2013) is preserved in the Internet Archive. The original publications, deliverables, and Visual Processing Library documentation are accessible through the Wayback Machine.
View archived site on the Wayback Machine →