3D Plus camera head used on Mars Perseverance rover | APC Technology Group

3D PLUS camera head used on NASA's Mars Perseverance rover

The 4 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor has been selected for multiple missions, including NASA's Mars 2020 program.

Included as a part of the SuperCam Instrument of the Perseverance rover, a key objective for the mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterise the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

The image on the right was taken from the Supercam’s Remote Micro-imager (RMI), which utilises 3D PLUS's CMOS camera sensor. Stitched together from five images, this mosaic shows the calibration target for the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. The RMI can observe dust grains as small as 100 microns on SuperCam's calibration targets on the back of the rover.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS

Perseverance integrates numerous 3D PLUS’s highly reliable components such as volatile and nonvolatile memory modules (SRAM, SDRAM, NAND Flash, NOR Flash and DDR2), Latch-up Current Limiters, Interfaces, as well as our unique CMOS space-qualified camera head. Embedded in multiple instruments of the rover, 3D PLUS products offer high reliability, radiation tolerance and weight-saving thanks to our unique stacking technology that allows a high level of miniaturisation.

The space camera module has been designed based on the 3D PLUS technology and includes 4 stacked levels in order to obtain a 3D cube with a reduced volume of 35x35x23 mm3. The top-level contains the 2048x2048 pixels CMOS image sensor which is the key element of the camera. Images are provided by the CMOS sensor through the 10 LVDS multiplexable output pairs.

Key features

  • 13 general purpose signals
  • 10 LVDS output pairs and 2 LVDS input pairs
  • Radiation Hardened design
    • TID > 40 krad(Si)
    • SEL LET > 60 MeV.cm2/mg
  • Operating Temperature Range -40°C / +70°C
  • 55-pin PGA
  • 2048 (H) * 2048 (V) active pixels on 5.5µm pitch
  • User re-configurable FPGA
  • Frame rate:
    • 7 frames/s @ full resolution (12-bit mode)
    • 16 frames/s @ full resolution (10-bit mode)
4 Megapixel high-resolution image sensor bayer (RGB) / monochrome configuration radiation hardened design

3D PLUS is a world-leading supplier of advanced high density 3D microelectronic products, bare die and wafer-level stacking technology. 3D PLUS's products and solutions are used in high technology industries for industrial, computer boards & embedded systems, defence & security, aircraft & avionics, medical & sciences and aerospace applications.

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