A UC Berkeley news release describes an artificial compound eye fabricated by Luke P. Lee and other researchers at Berkeley's Sensor and Actuator Center. The biomimetic microfabricated compound eye consists of a dome-shaped surface covered with 8,700 hexagaonal microlenses. Below each lens is a tiny waveguide that will lead to a CCD photodiode in the same what that each of a Dragonfly's ommatidia lead to a photoreceptor cell. The researchers claim these sensors could cover a wider field of vision than any existing fish-eye lenses. For more details see the recently released paper, Biologically Inspired Artificial Compound Eyes (PDF format). Once in production they expect sensors to be inexpensive enough for use as panoramic cameras for mobile phones, so they'll probably make interesting sensors for robots as well.