DaimlerChrysler lights up night

ENGINEERS at DaimlerChrysler in Germany have developed a new night vision system that overcomes one of the major flaws in existing systems.

DaimlerChrysler's Active Night Vision can see any object regardless of its temperature and can therefore detect lane markers, fallen trees or other objects that may be on the road.

Previously developed systems used thermal imaging and could therefore only pick up warmer items like people, animals and other vehicles.

The new system also illuminates the road ahead up to 125 metres without blinding oncoming drivers, compared with only about 30 metres using conventional headlights.

DaimlerChrysler's system uses two laser headlights to illuminate the road by means of infra-red light that is virtually invisible to the human eye.

A video camera records the reflected image which then appears in black and white on a heads-up screen located directly in the driver's field of vision.

The system is being tested in a bus and will eventually be commercially available in buses, trucks, emergency service vehicles and premium passenger vehicles, according to DaimlerChrysler.

The researchers who came up with the concept were given the DaimlerChrysler Research Award for their efforts.

German statistics indicate 40 per cent of serious accidents occur at night, despite the fact night driving accounts for less than 20 per cent of total driving time.

Poor visibility is blamed for most accidents because conventional low beam lights do not illuminate the road sufficiently, high beam dazzles oncoming drivers and poor visibility leads to tiredness.