FRIDA is an Integral Field Unit (IFU) based on an image dissector system using mirrors, and several optical cameras to cover different spatial scales sampling the GTC diffraction limit in the range 0.9 μm - 2.5 μm.

Unlike all instruments installed or planned for GTC, FRIDA is the only one that will work with extreme spatial resolution, a factor 10 - 20 higher than that of current instruments (and a factor 1.7 higher than that of JWST), distinguishing details in astronomical images separated by 0.025 arcseconds in one micron, 0.04 arcseconds in two microns, the diffraction limits of a 10.4 m