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Improved Visibility of the Road

 
Sometimes the road is not clearly visible and no amount of illumination from a standard headlight can assist the driver. A few examples of such situations are snow covered roads, roads without lane markings or shoulders, and poorly lit roads. Our prototype can be used to brightly illuminate only the driver's lane to provide them with a visual guide. Opposing lanes, curbs, and sidewalks can be illuminated to create a strong contrast with the driver's lane and also provide sufficient illumination to see obstacles.

Images do not need to be captured or analyzed and objects do not need to be tracked. After computing the homography with the road plane, the headlight acts only as an illumination device. For proof-of-concept, illumination patterns were pre-determined for the stretch of road where experience were conducted. In practice, the position and speed of the vehicle will be used to dynamically determine the illumination patterns required for the road. [direct link to illustration above]


Media requests: Please read the FAQ first.
Contact: Prof. Srinivasa Narasimhan


Our Approach and Results


Concept: With the high resolution of the spatial light modulator, it is possible to shape the headlight beam to match the contour of any curvy road, lane or sidewalk, increasing visibility of the road when there are no road markings, or when the road markings are not visible in snowing conditions. [direct video link]
 
On Dark Roads: Driving lanes on poorly lit roads can be made more visible to the driver. Our headlight provides an illumination pathway to follow when the road is difficult to see. [direct video link]
 
On Unmarked Roads: Driving lanes on roads without visible lane markings can also be made more visible to the driver. [direct video link]

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