iRis project - an introduction

The purpose of the iRis project is to have a "head" for medical training purpose related to eyes illness.
Basically the idea is to build a "eyes simulator" capable to react to the light like an eye does, in order to simulate  different types of illness retina/nerve related.



Here some basic requirements :

1. relatively low cost (< 500$)
2. iris dilatation capabilities
3. simulation light deficiency separately for each eye
4. (optional) background simulation using slides or small LCD screens

Hardware

The hardware is based on a pair of "electronic eye bulbs".
Each one has the capability to change the "iris" diameter and each one is equipped with light sensors.

The iris could be a diaphragm controlled by a servomotor or other meaning.

The back of the eyes can host a slide representing some specific illness.

The main electronic components are a light sensor and a servomotor capable to control the iris.
No need to  add  a palpebra and eye movements.
A small microcontroller should be able to control the eye or both but the final architecture will depend from many other factors, like the need to collect data other than do the simulation.

The basic idea is to have the "eye" to react to the amount of light, following different set of parameters in order to simulate different type of illness.

Software

The basic functionality of the eye model is to measure the amount of light and provide a feedback to the diaphragm.
Research the timing involved  in a normal eye in order to determine the power of the processor and related systems.
For example, how the light sensor is hooked to the microcontroller, the precision of the reading, how fats the sensor reacts to the change of light, how fast the iris can be controlled in relationship with the numbers of a "real" human eye.
Also some eye behavior is expected to be simulated, like the capability to the iris of the both eyes to operate in sync.