Analog VLSI focal-plane array with dynamic connections for the estimation of piecewise-smooth optical flow

An analog very large-scale integrated (aVLSI) sensor is presented that is capable of estimating optical flow while detecting and preserving motion discontinuities. The sensor's architecture is composed of two recurrently connected networks. The units in the first network (the optical-flow network) collectively estimate two-dimensional optical flow, where the strength of their nearest-neighbor coupling determines the degree of motion integration. While the coupling strengths in our previous implementations were globally set and adjusted by the operator, they are now dynamically and locally controlled by a second on-chip network (the motion-discontinuity network). The coupling strengths are set such that visual motion integration is inhibited across image locations that are likely to represent motion boundaries. Results of a prototype sensor illustrate the potential of the approach and its functionality under real-world conditions.