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DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision Technology Improves Night Driving

5 April 2000

DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision Technology Improves Night Driving

    STUTTGART, 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.