Vision based night-time rear collision warning system, controller, and method of operating the same

摘要

A night-time rear collision warning system (10) that includes a camera (32) and a controller (36). The system (10) identifies a bright spot (54A, 54B, 54C, 54D, 54E) corresponding to a light source present in the field of view (34) of the camera (32), determines if the bright spot corresponds to headlights of an approaching vehicle (16), and determines if a collision is likely. The headlights of a distant approaching vehicle (16) may appear as a single bright spot (54A) and so the bright spot is classified as a fused spot. By analyzing bright spots (54B) from headlights, the system (10) is able to operate at night when no other information regarding the size or shape of the approaching vehicle (16) is available.