Multi-Spectral Stereo Sensing for Low-Visibility Pre-Collision Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively detect impending collisions between vehicles or between a vehicle and an object due to violations in maintaining a minimum headway or due to unawareness, especially under bad weather and lighting conditions.
Innovation Solution
A multi-spectral vehicular system using pairs of Visible Light (VL) and Infra-Red (IR) cameras for stereoscopic vision, with auto-calibration and disparity mapping, to provide continuous and automatic collision detection and pre-collision alerts, even under limited visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple separate sensors (millimeter wave radar, infrared sensor, camera) are used to detect different spectral bands, then the detection capability and safety alert accuracy are improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies multi-functionality by integrating multiple detection capabilities (millimeter wave detection, infrared detection, and visible light detection) into a single multi-spectral sensor device. This allows the system to detect different spectral bands simultaneously using one unified sensor rather than requiring separate sensors for each band, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining comprehensive detection capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate sensors are used to cover different spectral bands, then the detection coverage is improved, but the integration complexity and system coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple spectral detection functions into a single integrated multi-spectral sensor. By combining millimeter wave, infrared, and visible light detection capabilities into one sensor unit, the system achieves comprehensive detection coverage across multiple spectral bands while eliminating the need for complex integration and coordination between separate sensors.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances driving safety by accurately detecting dangerous scenarios and providing pre-collision alerts under various weather and lighting conditions, ensuring seamless data fusion and redundancy for reliable obstacle detection.
Implementation Method 1
a multi-spectral sensor to detect a environment in front of the autonomous vehicle in multiple spectral bands including millimeter wave, infrared, and visible light
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A multi-spectral vehicular system for providing pre-collision alerts, comprising two pairs of stereoscopic infrared (IR) and visible light (VL) sensors, each of which providing acquired image streams from a mutual field of view, which are synchronized to provide stereoscopic vision; a data fusion module for mutually processing the data streams, to detect objects within the field of view and calculating distances to detected objects; a cellular based communication module for allowing communication between the sensors and mobile phones/Infotainment systems of the vehicle. The module runs a dedicated background application that is adapted to monitor the vicinity of the vehicle to detect other vehicles having a similar system; calculate speed and heading azimuth of each of the other vehicles; and provide alerts to the driver of the vehicle whenever other vehicles having a similar system are in a path of collision with the vehicle, based on the calculation and on the speed of the vehicle.