Traffic Light Color Detection Using Glare-Free Focus Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traffic light detection systems fail to reliably detect the color of traffic lights with sufficient safety integrity due to glare from external light sources, such as the sun, which oversaturates sensors and impairs accurate color recognition.
Innovation Solution
A method that determines the location of external light sources and avoids areas directly illuminated by them to measure the color of traffic lights using a combination of sensor data and algorithms, including artificial intelligence and deterministic methods, ensuring accurate color detection by comparing results from multiple algorithms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the sensor measures color from areas directly illuminated by external light sources, then the measurement area is maximized, but the color detection accuracy deteriorates due to glare and sensor oversaturation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and excludes the harmful directly illuminated areas from the measurement region. By identifying and removing portions of the traffic light area that are directly illuminated by external light sources, the system obtains a clean measurement area free from glare contamination, thus resolving the contradiction between maximizing measurement area and maintaining color detection accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating different measurement strategies for different regions of the traffic light. Instead of uniformly measuring the entire traffic light area, the system selectively measures only those local regions that are not directly illuminated by external light sources, ensuring high-quality color data from appropriate sub-regions
2Reliability
If multiple algorithms are used to determine traffic light color, then the reliability and safety integrity improve, but the device complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple detection algorithms (artificial intelligence-based algorithm and deterministic algorithm) to work together in determining traffic light color. By combining the strengths of different algorithmic approaches, the system achieves higher reliability and safety integrity through cross-validation and complementary detection methods
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by comparing results from multiple algorithms and using this comparison to validate and confirm the final color determination. The feedback mechanism ensures that the color detection is reliable by verifying consistency across different algorithmic approaches before finalizing the result
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a method for detecting a color of a traffic light being positioned in an environment of a vehicle, wherein the method comprises determining a traffic light area in which the traffic light is located based on sensor data captured by a camera installed at the vehicle, and determining a location of a focus area for measuring the color of the traffic light located inside the determined traffic light area based on the sensor data captured by the camera installed at the vehicle. The focus area is located at least partly in a sub area of the determined traffic light area which is not directly illuminated by an external light source.