Development of apparatus to evaluate visibility in fog

摘要

As the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) and the Advanced Rear-lighting System (ARS) have been rapidly developed, visibility in bad weather such as rain, fog and snow is a very important matter. Fog especially makes driving conditions hazardous. This has necessitated that we develop apparatus that can reproduce foggy conditions so that effective evaluations in fog can be made. Natural fog was analyzed from an optical point of view and an apparatus was developed that can reproduce foggy conditions similar to natural conditions by using a set of special nets placed at intervals of 25 centimeters between the object and the vehicle. This apparatus has enabled us to develop improved headlamps for driving in fog, and to study desired characteristics for fog lamps.