September 1, 2003

Origami helps cellphone cameras to focus

According to an article (way over my head) in the New Scientist, camera phones may be about to get a whole lot more intrusive thanks to a novel and ultra-cheap micromotor technology, enabling the handsets to zoom and focus with the same precision as the autofocusing lenses used in expensive stills cameras, thanks to a technique closer to origami than engineering.

"Instead of precision grinding the crystal rings, 1 Limited is using a technique closer to origami than engineering. It uses a simple roller with fine blades to cut a pattern of parallel slits in a 0.1-millimetre-thick sheet of a piezoelectric ceramic material called lead zirconate titanate".

emily | 5:58 PM | News, Buzz | Add this this entry to your del.icio.us bookmarks. Digg This Technorati search results for this Entry
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