Pedestrian tracking routine for passive automotive night vision systems

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to present a new approach to implement a pedestrian tracking algorithm for a passive automotive night vision application.Design/methodology/approach – First, the basic information of passive and active night vision systems is presented, with implementation methods adopted in previous work. The proposed thermal‐image processing is a combination of seed detection, boundary detection and seed growth computations, based on a temperature thresholding scheme.Findings – The processing routine performance is assessed when implemented to a continuous sequence of thermal acquisitions, from a commercial automotive night vision module. Experimental results show good tracking performance for both pedestrians and passing vehicles.Research limitations/implications – A strategy of multi‐seed growth, directional seed growth and image fusion is proposed to improve the current tracking algorithm.Originality/value – New thermal image processing routines are applied to commercial, automotive night vi...