IR illumination-assisted smart headlight glare reduction

Date of Award

2017

Degree Name

M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Keigo Hirakawa

Abstract

Smart headlights, or headlights with some form of programmable technology, are rapidly being incorporated in today's automotive world. Recently proposed smart headlights utilize projector-like displays to fully control the light beam. One application of this technology is the reduction of reflected glare from a driver's headlights illuminating precipitation. Specifically, the headlight de-illuminates the rain drops and snowflakes detected by integrated cameras, allowing the driver to better focus on the road. Up until now, these efforts have been developed in the visible spectrum only. In this work, we propose a new hardware configuration aimed at improving the rain glare reduction system by leveraging infrared (IR) illumination. We demonstrate a better light efficiency, the increased ability to detect and track rain, increased stability, and reduced computational load.

Keywords

Infrared lamps, Automobiles Lighting Automation, Headlight glare, Engineering, Smart Headlights, Machine Vision, IR Illumination, Homography

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2017, author

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