NEWS MARCH 2010
Cambridge Mechatronics says it has re-started its 6.5mm Camera Auto-Focus actuator development
Cambridge, UK, March 12th, 2010 Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd (CML), a leading developer of Intellectual Property and components for precision electronic actuators used in high volume consumer products, today said that it has restarted development of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) based Auto-Focus (A-F) actuators for 6.5mm cameras, which are used in mainstream mass market mobile phones.
Although the company actually exhibited its first 6.5mm actuator prototypes at Mobile World Congress in 2008, it has focussed the majority of its efforts since that time, on the larger 8.5mm format, most commonly found in smart phones and other higher-end camera phones. However, continuing development of sensor and image processing technology and the arrival of new handset applications that require bar-code reading have combined to ignite demand for mechanical auto-focus in the smaller form factor. CML is now actively working on 6.5mm projects with two miniature camera companies in the Far East who are in turn working with two of the world’s leading handset vendors.
Low Cost
CML is enjoying considerable success in the 8.5mm A-F actuator market largely because its technology enables camera designers to use much larger and heavier (glass not plastic) lenses without impacting the footprint , height, or cost of the camera module. This, combined with other developments such as backside illumination of sensors and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), will advance the smart-phone camera industry’s efforts to match the photographic quality of the larger Digital Still Camera (DSC) format.
However, in the smaller form-factor segment, cost remains by far the major market driving force. The renewed interest in CML’s 6.5mm SMA technology is a signal that the projected costs of mechanical actuators are falling closer to the levels offered by the less photographically pleasing non-mechanical alternatives. SMA’s benefits over other mechanical A-F technologies such as Voice Coil Motors (VCM) are even more compelling in the 6.5 mm form factor as the advantages of SMA’s small size and great strength are proportionally greater.
“Three years ago mechanical A-F actuators were selling for more than $3 and Extended Depth of Focus (EDoF) software based solutions were positioned as ostensibly free” says Dominic Webber, CML’s Director of Digital Imaging Products. ‘The reality is that in 2011 a 6.5mm SMA A-F mechanical solution will fall under $1 and EDoF still requires additional image processing silicon, a technology license fee and a special lens. There is a growing consensus that mechanical actuators will win a substantial portion of the 6.5 mm A-F market.”. CML expects its licensees will ship their first 6.5mm samples later this year and be in volume production by mid-2011, roughly one year behind their more advanced 8.5 mm offerings.