A communication system between two autonomous micro air vehicles is proposed. Laser communication offers advantages in range, power, and bandwidth when line of sight is available. Beamsteering is accomplished using gyro-stabilized MEMS micromirrors. A custom CMOS smart-pixel imager implements a 1Mbps receiver, including analog front-end and variable-gain amplifier at each pixel. Algorithms are presented for initial link establishment and maintenance.
Matt Last, Brian S. Leibowitz, Baris Cagdaser, Ana