Measuring Power Usage and Sensitivity to Movement for Event-Based Cameras

Event-based cameras are emerging as new potential solutions for a variety of sensing applications. However, their capabilities must be better characterized before deploying in real systems. This research presents a new methodology to measure power usage and sensitivity to movement for event- based cameras, demonstrated with the iniVation DAVIS346. Power is measured with strobing images ranging from 0% to 100% pixel activation and with real-time satellite imagery. Results demonstrate that power usage varies by up to ~1.3W depending on pixel activation. A space-based system is estimated to use ~3W with ~20% pixel activation. Sensitivity is measured with an object moving across the field of view at varying speeds, and it was found that the object needed to move at a minimum of ~1.44 pixels per second to be registered by the camera. These methods can be applied to other event-based cameras and results can inform decisions about how to best deploy in real systems.