High Frame Rate Single-Pixel Imaging for Multiple Moving Targets

Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is a technique that employs a non-scanning single-pixel detector to reconstruct the image. Research has mostly concentrated on static targets, as image reconstruction requires multiple samples, and SPI of moving objects, especially multiple moving objects, remains challenging. Here we propose a motion compensation scheme for SPI of multiple moving targets without prior motion information, allowing image reconstruction from any selected frame of the motion process. By obtaining the number and spatial positions of moving targets, the corresponding regions of the imaging modulation patterns are shifted to the target positions of any selected frame to reconstruct the images, thereby achieving high frame rate multi-target motion imaging. In laboratory experiments, with a digital micromirror device (DMD) modulated at a frequency of 20 kHz, the imaging frame rate reached 161 Hz for a frame size of 128×128 pixels. The peak signal-to-noise ratio of each frame improved by at least 3.87 dB and up to 6.54 dB after motion compensation. In addition, outdoor field experiments using an SPI prototype have successfully realized long-distance (258.5 m) multi-target motion imaging; with a DMD modulated at a frequency of 8 kHz, the imaging frame rate reached 48 Hz for a frame size of 128×128 pixels, and a contrast-to-noise ratio improvement of over 10 dB was achieved after compensation.