In-Vehicle Stereo Vision Systems with Improved Ant Colony Optimization Based Lane Detection: A Solution to Accidents Involving Large Goods Vehicles Due to Blind Spots

Abstract

This paper presents an in-vehicle stereo vision system as a solution to accidents involving large good vehicle due to blind spots using Nigeria as a case study. In this paper, a stereo-vision system was attached to the front of Large Good Vehicles (LGVs) with a view to presenting live feeds of vehicles close to the LGV vehicles and their distance away. The captured road images using the stereo vision system were optimized for effectiveness and optimal vehicle maneuvering using a modified metaheuristics algorithm called the simulated annealing Ant Colony Optimization (saACO) algorithm. The concept of simulated annealing is strategies used to automatically select the control parameters of the ACO algorithm. This helps to stabilize the performance of the ACO algorithm irrespective of the quality of the lane images captured in the in-vehicle vision system. The system is capable of notifying drivers through lane detection techniques of blind spots. This technique enables the driver to be more aware of what surrounds the vehicle and make decisions early. In order to test the system, the stereo-vision device was mounted on a Large good vehicle, driven in Zaria (a city in Kaduna state in Nigeria), and data were in the record. Out of 180 events, 42.22% of potential accident events were caused by Passenger Cars, while 27.22%, 18.33% and 12.22% were caused by two-wheelers, Large Good Vehicles and road users, respectively. In the same vein, the in-vehicle lane detection system shows a good performance of the saACO-based lane detection system and gives a better performance in comparison with the standard ACO method.