DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision Technology Improves Night Driving
5 April 2000
DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision Technology Improves Night DrivingSTUTTGART, Germany, April 5 A unique Active Night Vision system with infrared lasers that illuminates people, animals, road signs and road debris up to 500 feet ahead of the vehicle has been developed by DaimlerChrysler researchers in Ulm, Germany. Unlike currently available thermal imaging night vision systems, the DaimlerChrysler technology can see any object regardless of its temperature. For example, the DaimlerChrysler system could detect a tire on the road, lane markers or a fallen tree. It also illuminates the road ahead up to 500 feet without blinding the oncoming drivers; conventional high-beam headlights provide visibility of only 130 feet. The system functions as follows: two laser headlights on the vehicle's front end illuminate the road by means of infrared light that is invisible to the human eye. A video camera records the reflected image, which then appears in black and white on a heads-up screen located directly in the driver's field of vision. The researchers are currently testing the system in a bus. Additional research prototypes will be developed throughout the year. The system eventually will be available in premium passenger vehicles and other vehicles such as buses, trucks, emergency service vehicles and taxis, all of which benefit from highly reliable safety systems. DaimlerChrysler's infrared Active Night Vision system could significantly reduce dangers associated with night driving, such as poor visibility and temporary "blindness" caused by oncoming headlights. DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision is an active system with its own light source and, unlike passive systems, not solely dependent on information resulting from the heat emitted by objects in the field of vision. Researchers chose an infrared light source because such light is virtually invisible to the human eye, meaning it cannot blind drivers of oncoming vehicles. Its narrow spectral width also offers substantial benefits: preset optical filters are capable of reducing the blinding effects of oncoming headlights by a factor of 50 to 100, while still allowing the system's reflected laser light to pass through. The DaimlerChrysler team came up with another trick to reduce the blinding effects of oncoming high beams: the laser headlights send pulsating infrared light to the road. Since the video camera's electronic cover is synchronized with the frequency of the laser diode, the camera records all of the reflected infrared light from the road but only a limited amount of light from oncoming vehicles.