Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas
Motor vehicle headlamps are the only light sources that create visibility conditions for the driver in nighttime non-urban traffic. Therefore, a suitable design of these lighting systems is of the highest relevance to allow the driver an early detection of obstacles so that an appropriate reaction i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/2964 |
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| author | Anil Erkan David Hoffmann Nikolai Kreß Tsoni Vitkov Korbinian Kunst Markus Alexander Peier Tran Quoc Khanh |
| author_facet | Anil Erkan David Hoffmann Nikolai Kreß Tsoni Vitkov Korbinian Kunst Markus Alexander Peier Tran Quoc Khanh |
| author_sort | Anil Erkan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Motor vehicle headlamps are the only light sources that create visibility conditions for the driver in nighttime non-urban traffic. Therefore, a suitable design of these lighting systems is of the highest relevance to allow the driver an early detection of obstacles so that an appropriate reaction is possible. In order to provide a design basis for the headlamps, this article deals with the determination of the minimum required lighting conditions for reliable object detection. For this purpose, studies with drivers were conducted in a light tunnel on a closed test site, and the Visibility Level (VL) required for reliable object detection was considered. Gray cards with a reflectance of 4% were positioned on different positions of measurement grids, and the intensity of the low beam and high beam of a test vehicle was increased step by step until the drivers had detected the gray card. The results demonstrate that a Visibility Level of at least 13.35 is required in non-urban areas in order to reliably detect objects. In addition, the required Visibility Level depends on the eccentricity angle. Thus, the required Visibility Level reaches its maximum value in the foveal area of the field of view and decreases in a Gaussian shape in the periphery. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:32:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9f68707979d408ab3a7a63366ebd4c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:32:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9f68707979d408ab3a7a63366ebd4c62023-11-17T07:17:26ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-02-01135296410.3390/app13052964Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban AreasAnil Erkan0David Hoffmann1Nikolai Kreß2Tsoni Vitkov3Korbinian Kunst4Markus Alexander Peier5Tran Quoc Khanh6Laboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyLaboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, GermanyMotor vehicle headlamps are the only light sources that create visibility conditions for the driver in nighttime non-urban traffic. Therefore, a suitable design of these lighting systems is of the highest relevance to allow the driver an early detection of obstacles so that an appropriate reaction is possible. In order to provide a design basis for the headlamps, this article deals with the determination of the minimum required lighting conditions for reliable object detection. For this purpose, studies with drivers were conducted in a light tunnel on a closed test site, and the Visibility Level (VL) required for reliable object detection was considered. Gray cards with a reflectance of 4% were positioned on different positions of measurement grids, and the intensity of the low beam and high beam of a test vehicle was increased step by step until the drivers had detected the gray card. The results demonstrate that a Visibility Level of at least 13.35 is required in non-urban areas in order to reliably detect objects. In addition, the required Visibility Level depends on the eccentricity angle. Thus, the required Visibility Level reaches its maximum value in the foveal area of the field of view and decreases in a Gaussian shape in the periphery.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/2964automotive lightingobject detectionnighttime trafficnon-urban areaVisibility Level |
| spellingShingle | Anil Erkan David Hoffmann Nikolai Kreß Tsoni Vitkov Korbinian Kunst Markus Alexander Peier Tran Quoc Khanh Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas Applied Sciences automotive lighting object detection nighttime traffic non-urban area Visibility Level |
| title | Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas |
| title_full | Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas |
| title_fullStr | Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas |
| title_short | Required Visibility Level for Reliable Object Detection during Nighttime Road Traffic in Non-Urban Areas |
| title_sort | required visibility level for reliable object detection during nighttime road traffic in non urban areas |
| topic | automotive lighting object detection nighttime traffic non-urban area Visibility Level |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/2964 |
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