Night driving assistance system based on spatial perspective approach

摘要

In this paper we put forward and evaluate a near real-time night driving assistance system intended for use in land vehicles (cars in particular) to help with T-junctions crossing at night. The onboard system of the host vehicle computes the remaining distance between itself and the nearest approaching vehicle using spatial perspective method. The algorithm evaluates the interspacing of the incoming vehicle's headlights. This allows the distance-to-contact to be determined or estimated. This work emphasises techniques to obtain the required image quality for distance sensing. The image quality was achieved when work was focused primarily at the hardware levels. With polaroids in place, the acquired images show that the headlight signals are clearly distinguishable from other ambient lights. This significantly simplifies image processing. Road-testing shows rather promising results. The system can be generalised to intersection settings, prevent rear-front collisions and may be extended for daytime applications with the introduction of virtual references.