Blind Spot Area Research Articles

Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process Based Optimization of Rear View Mirror Design Parameters for Blind Spots Reduction in Heavy Transport Vehicles

While driving, blind spot is a key phenomenon related to the visibility of the driver. Blind Spots play a vital role in road accidents. Reduction of blind spot area is very much required to reduce the accidents. In this paper, an attempt is made to overcome the problems of blind spot by optimizing the design parameters used in the rear view mirror design of heavy transport vehicles. The blind spot of the existing body structure was studied in a public transport. First the area of blind spot of the existing body structure was studied and then the optimal design parameters are ranked by Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP). FAHP was also used to determine the weights of the design parameters and ranking of the vehicle body structures though a case study.

Performance Capabilities and Detection Efficiency of Vehicle Backup Proximity Sensors for Narrow Objects

This paper investigates performance capabilities and potential safety effectiveness of ultrasonic backup proximity sensors with special attention on cylindrical and cubical shaped narrow obstacles with the dimensions varies from 2.6 cm to 11.0 cm. The experiment was performed using a commercially available parking aid system consisting of two ultrasonic sensors, and a rear bumper model constructed in a laboratory environment together with a test surface divided into grids having cells of 6 cm x 6 cm. It can be observed that there are considerable differences in detection zone patterns when comparing observations for cylinders and cubes even for same dimensions. Using detection zone maps, it can be seen that, when the size of the test objects become smaller, there are large blind spot areas in the space between the sensors and also near the right and left edges of the rear bumper. In average, when reducing the obstacle dimensions from 11.0 cm to 2.6 cm, the detection efficiency changes from 62.6% to 33.1% for cylindrical objects and for cubical shaped objects it was 39.3% to 21.6%. Average detection efficiency is lower than 50% for objects less than 5 cm in dimension irrespective of the object geometry.

Performance Capabilities and Detection Efficiency of Vehicle Backup Proximity Sensors for Narrow Objects

This paper investigates performance capabilities and potential safety effectiveness of ultrasonic backup proximity sensors with special attention on cylindrical and cubical shaped narrow obstacles with the dimensions varies from 2.6 cm to 11.0 cm. The experiment was performed using a commercially available parking aid system consisting of two ultrasonic sensors, and a rear bumper model constructed in a laboratory environment together with a test surface divided into grids having cells of 6 cm x 6 cm. It can be observed that there are considerable differences in detection zone patterns when comparing observations for cylinders and cubes even for same dimensions. Using detection zone maps, it can be seen that, when the size of the test objects become smaller, there are large blind spot areas in the space between the sensors and also near the right and left edges of the rear bumper. In average, when reducing the obstacle dimensions from 11.0 cm to 2.6 cm, the detection efficiency changes from 62.6% to 33.1% for cylindrical objects and for cubical shaped objects it was 39.3% to 21.6%. Average detection efficiency is lower than 50% for objects less than 5 cm in dimension irrespective of the object geometry.

Detecting the Physiological Blind Spot with Reaction Time Perimeter

Objective: To study the ability of a novel reaction time perimeter to detect a physiological blind spot. Methods: The location of the physiological blind spot of 11 healthy volunteers was determined with two independent methods, first by Octopus custom-made blind spot visual field program, and second by Fundus photography with a method previously described by the authors. With reaction time perimeter saccade triggering stimuli (STS) were shown in predetermined locations of the visual field in order to initiate saccades. An STS was followed by an FO (fixation object) i.e., an arrow head pointing either to the right or left at the same location as the previously shown STS. The recognition of the FO was reported by pressing a correct button (right or left respectively) thus verifying accurate fixation by the fovea. Time intervals between button presses were recorded. Reaction times for detecting the STS within the blind spot area were compared to those for detecting the STS in other locations of the visual field. Results: Reaction times within the blind spot area were longer compared to those in other locations in 10 of 11 subjects (Analysis of variance), p<0.001 in 9 subjects, p<0.006 in one subject). Conclusion: A physiological blind spot can be detected with reaction time perimeter.

I-Car: An Intelligent and Interactive Interface for Driver Assistance System

The aim of the present research was to reduce accidents by assisting the driver in various aspects of driving such as lane detection, pedestrian and car detection, driver drowsiness detection and rear view parking assistance. The methodology combines the computer vision techniques with pattern recognition, feature extraction, machine learning, object recognition, human computer interaction and parallel processing in a nutshell. The proposed system provides robust extraction of lane markings in various types and alerts the driver attempting to drift from the lane. It also detects the pedestrians and cars which are at a vulnerable distance to be hit by the vehicle and alarms the driver well ahead of time. The system uses eye closure based decision algorithm to detect driver drowsiness in all conditions and also warns by interactive voice early enough to avoid the accidents. It also assists the driver while reversing the vehicle, by providing a clear view of his blind spot areas. Computer vision algorithms like Hough’s Transform, Canny Edge detection and HAAR classifiers were applied to meet the objectives. The integrated module was analyzed and tested in different terrains and various lighting condition to produce an accurate and robust real-time assistance system (Sivaraman et al., 2014). iCar is an innovative prototype in the Information Technology with minimum hardware like low cost webcams. It emerged as an Interactive Technology with an interactive audio, visual, touch and touch-less interfaces. These can assist to avoid accidents in the world by intelligently ignoring certain hardware sensors like IR, UV, Acoustic, Proximity and mechanical devices like costlier LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) fitted in Google Car. Present research findings outperform the state of the art research like CalTech (Aly et al., 1997). Attempts of depth sensing even using Microsoft Kinect could be ignored by the present technology, the iCar.Keywords: iCar; Canny Edge detection; HAAR Classifier; Probabilistic Hough’s; Transform

Visual Search Test (VST) ‐ reaction time perimetry with fixation objects detectable only by foveal vision

AbstractPurpose To validate a novel perimetry method (Visual Search Test, VST) which is based on reaction times in visual decision‐making task, where the subject is allowed to move eyes and where the fixation is verified by the subject himself in contrast to standard automatic perimetry (SAP) where prolonged stationary fixation and external fixation monitoring apparatus is required.Methods Device (Ocusweep prototype, Ocuspecto Ltd, Turku, Finland) consisting of 35° arc (radius 54 cm) was constructed with six 3x5 LED arrays displaying 0.4°, 100 ms suprathreshold stimulus (Saccade Triggering Stimulus, STS) followed by an arrow (&lt; or &gt;) as a fixation object (FO) the recognition of which was reported by pressing a correct button. The intensity of FO was 3‐5 dB above the foveal threshold. With a correct button press a new peripheral STS &amp; FO stimulus sequence was displayed in order to initiate a reflex saccade towards the STS. The time periods between button presses were recorded. 18 locations (up to 28° temporal, 20° nasal) along the meridians 0° and 8° of the visual field of left eye were tested. The center of the physiological blind spot of 11 healthy volunteers was measured with Octopus perimeter by custom program (1° oval grid of 139 test points). Reaction times within the blind spot area were compared to other locations.Results Reaction times within the blind spot area were slower compared to other locations in 10 of 11 subjects (AOV, p &lt; 0.001 in 9 subjects, p &lt; 0.006 in one subject).Conclusion Visual Search Test (VST) can be used to detect visual field defects. Commercial interest

Asymmetrical color filling-in from the nasal to the temporal side of the blind spot.

The physiological blind spot, corresponding to the optic disk in the retina, is a relatively large (6 × 8°) area in the visual field that receives no retinal input. However, we rarely notice the existence of it in daily life. This is because the blind spot fills in with the brightness, color, texture, and motion of the surround. The study of filling-in enables us to better understand the creative nature of the visual system, which generates perceptual information where there is none. Is there any retinotopic rule in the color filling-in of the blind spot? To find out, we used mono-colored and bi-colored annuli hugging the boundary of the blind spot. We found that mono-colored annuli filled in the blind spot uniformly. By contrast, bi-colored annuli, where one half had a given color, while the other half had a different one, filled in the blind spot asymmetrically. Specifically, the color surrounding the nasal half typically filled in about 75% of the blind spot area, whereas the color surrounding the temporal half filled in only about 25%. This asymmetry was dependent on the relative size of the half rings, but not the two colors used, and was absent when the bi-colored annulus was rotated by 90°. Here, the two colors on the upper and lower sides of the blind spot filled in the enclosed area equally. These results suggest that the strength of filling-in decreases with distance from the fovea consistent with the decrease of the cortical magnification factor.

Peripheral Visual Fields in Children and Young Adults Using Semi-automated Kinetic Perimetry: Feasibility of Testing, Normative Data, and Repeatability

Normative visual field area, feasibility and repeatability using (Octopus) semi-automated kinetic perimetry are reported in 221 healthy volunteers aged 5–22 years. I4e and I2e stimuli assessed the visual field at 5°/second (°/s) or 3°/s. Blind spot was assessed with I2e at 2°/s. Reliable visual fields were plotted in 23% of participants <10 years, 64% of 10–12-year-olds, and 98% aged 13–22 years. Visual field areas were unchanged with age using 5°/s, but increased using 3°/s for I2e (p = 0.028). Blind spot area was unchanged with age. Reaction times reduced with age (p < 0.004). There was no learning effect. A test speed of 5°/s is recommended.

English

Guidance performances of an agricultural robot were evaluated when the robot traveled along cornrows and performed the row to row turning maneuver in cornfield with variable angle of view (AOV) camera arrangement. The arrangement with one low-cost camera has flexible AOV by controlling Servo motors motions as human vision. In this work, a forward far AOV was used to segment clearly and quickly cornrows due to more crop information and strong contrast between cornrows and soil, and a forward near AOV with less crop information was chosen once the number of crops pixels reduced due to the spacing headland. And a lateral near AOV was adopted to guide the robot by acquiring the crop image near the end of cornrows, due to a blind spot area in front of the robot for the near AOV arrangement. Then the headland turning was performed. During headland turning, the robot obtained the cornrows information using a lateral far AOV arrangement. After the headland turning, the robot traveled in the next cornrow with the AOV same to the first far AOV camera arrangement. Guidance information was detected with an image-processing algorithm employing mathematically morphological operations, and fuzzy logic control was applied to guide the robot according to guidance information. Tests showed that the robot traveled successfully and performed the headland turning in corn field with three replications. Test data from GPS were processed and showed stable guidance behavior with a maximum guidance error 22.58 mm and good headland turning operation. The low-cost variable AOV camera arrangement has a promising field application for autonomous agricultural vehicles. &nbsp; Key words: Machine vision, agricultural robot, row guidance, headland turning.

COPRAS Decision Model to Optimize Blind Spot in Heavy Vehicles: A Comparative Perspective

The visibility of a driver is the key phenomenon in the road accidents. Reduction of blind spot improves the area of visibility which leads to reduce the possibility of the accidents. In this paper an effort is taken to reduce the blind spot area through the optimization of design parameters used in the design of rear view mirror in heavy vehicles. This is achieved by using a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) approach called COPRAS (Complex Proportional Assessment of alternatives) technique. The effectiveness of the developed model is proved by a case study conducted in a public transport corporation located in the southern part of India. The weights of the design parameters are calculated using three different approaches such as AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), FARE (Factor Relationship) method and Entropy Measurement and the results are compared.

Development of Vehicle Blind Spot System for Passenger Car

Blind spot of a passenger car is an area around the vehicle that cannot be seen while looking either forward or through side or rear view mirror. In this paper, a blind spot system known as ZRT Vehicle Blind Spot System (ZRT-VBSS) has been developed using Arduino and ultrasonic sensors to overcome the problem. The system is capable to detect a moving vehicle in blind spot area under three main condition of which static, dynamic speed operation at 60 and 100 km/h and also overtake position. The results from the experimental investigation show that ZRT-VBSS is capable to perform at various operating condition that make it reliable to provide solution for driver to overcome the blind spot phenomenon.

Inexperience and risky decisions of young adolescents, as pedestrians and cyclists, in interactions with lorries, and the effects of competency versus awareness education

BackgroundRoad injuries are a prime cause of death in early adolescence. Often road safety education (RSE) is used to target risky road behaviour in this age group. These RSE programmes are frequently based on the assumption that deliberate risk taking rather than lack of competency underlies risk behaviour. This study tested the competency of 10–13 year olds, by examining their decisions – as pedestrians and cyclists – in dealing with blind spot areas around lorries. Also, the effects of an awareness programme and a competency programme on these decisions were evaluated. MethodTable-top models were used, representing seven scenarios that differed in complexity: one basic scenario to test the identification of blind spot areas, and 6 traffic scenarios to test behaviour in traffic situations of low or high task complexity. Using a quasi-experimental design (pre-test and post-test reference group design without randomization), the programme effects were assessed by requiring participants (n=62) to show, for each table-top traffic scenario, how they would act if they were in that traffic situation. ResultsOn the basic scenario, at pre-test 42% of the youngsters identified all blind spots correctly, but only 27% showed safe behaviour in simple scenarios and 5% in complex scenarios. The competency programme yielded improved performance on the basic scenario but not on the traffic scenarios, whereas the awareness programme did not result in any improvements. The correlation between improvements on the basic scenarios and the traffic scenarios was not significant. ConclusionsYoung adolescents have not yet mastered the necessary skills for safe performance in simple and complex traffic situations, thus underlining the need for effective prevention programmes. RSE may improve the understanding of blind spot areas but this does not ‘automatically’ transfer to performance in traffic situations. Implications for the design of RSE are discussed.

가상주행환경에서의 측면 충돌 방지시스템 개발

The latest vehicle yields a superior safety and reduction of driving burden by monitoring the driving state of vehicle and its environment with various sensors. To detect other vehicles and objects of the rear left and right-side blind spot area of driver, provide the information about a existence of objects inside the blind spot, and give a signal to avoid collision, this study proposes the intelligent outside rear-view mirror system. This study proposes SILS system with PreScan and Matlab/Simulink to verify practical applicability of developed BSDS. PreScan yields realistic driving environments and road conditions and vehicle model dynamics and collision warning is controlled by Matlab/Simulink.

Real-time vision-based blind spot warning system: Experiments with motorcycles in daytime/nighttime conditions

This paper describes a real-time vision-based blind spot warning system that has been specially designed for motorcycles detection in both daytime and nighttime conditions. Motorcycles are fast moving and small vehicles that frequently remain unseen to other drivers, mainly in the blind-spot area. In fact, although in recent years the number of fatal accidents has decreased overall, motorcycle accidents have increased by 20%. The risks are primarily linked to the inner characteristics of this mode of travel: motorcycles are fast moving vehicles, light, unstable and fragile. These features make the motorcycle detection problem a difficult but challenging task to be solved from the computer vision point of view. In this paper we present a daytime and nighttime vision-based motorcycle and car detection system in the blind spot area using a single camera installed on the side mirror. On the one hand, daytime vehicle detection is carried out using optical flow features and Support Vector Machine-based (SVM) classification. On the other hand, nighttime vehicle detection is based on head lights detection. The proposed system warns the driver about the presence of vehicles in the blind area, including information about the position and the type of vehicle. Extensive experiments have been carried out in 172 minutes of sequences recorded in real traffic scenarios in both daytime and nighttime conditions, in the context of the Valencia MotoGP Grand Prix 2009.

대도시권 대중교통 사각지대 통행자들의 수단선택 모형 개발 - 급행버스 노선 도입에 따른 선호의식 조사를 중심으로 -

본 연구는 부산, 대구, 광주, 대전 등 4개 대도시권역을 대상으로 대중교통서비스가 열악한 대중교통사각지역을 선정한 후 이들 지역간을 운행하는 새로운 급행대중교통수단 도입 시 기성 시가지내 통행자들과 수단선택 행태가 어떻게 다른지를 분석하기위해 SP 조사(stated preference survey)를 통한 수단선택 행태변화에 대해 네스티드 로짓모형을 구축하여 분석하였다. 연구결과 대중교통사각지대는 잠재 대중교통수요가 많아 기성시가지에 비해 자가용통행으로부터 새로운 대중교통수단으로 전환하는 통행전환 비율이 매우 높은 것으로 분석되었다. 이러한 연구결과는 향후 대도시권 외곽 순환도로 혹은 외곽지역에서 도심지역으로 연결되는 간선도로를 활용한 새로운 급행 대중교통체계 도입시 수요변화 평가와 외곽지역의 대중교통 잠재수요 분석에도 활용될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. This study selected blind spot areas for public transportation in four metropolitan cities including Busan, Daegue, Gwangju, and Daejeon. Then this study developed a nested logit model and analyzed the changes of mode choice behaviors after adopting rapid transit system using stated preference(SP) survey. As the study results, blind spot areas have more potential public transportation demand and tendency to shift to public transportation from autos than built-up areas. This study results can be utilized to evaluate demand changes for new rapid transit system in a circular expressway and an arterial highway connecting CBD and surrounding areas. The study results also can be utilized to analyze the potential public transportation demand in the surrounding areas.

Integrating Appearance and Edge Features for Sedan Vehicle Detection in the Blind-Spot Area

Changing lanes while having no information about the blind spot area can be dangerous. We propose a vision-based vehicle detection system for a lane changing assistance system to monitor the potential sedan vehicle in the blind-spot area. To serve our purpose, we select adequate features, which are directly obtained from vehicle images, to detect possible vehicles in the blind-spot area. This is challenging due to the significant change in the view angle of a vehicle along with its location throughout the blind-spot area. To cope with this problem, we propose a method to combine two kinds of part-based features that are related to the characteristics of the vehicle, and we build multiple models based on different viewpoints of a vehicle. The location information of each feature is incorporated to help construct the detector and estimate the reasonable position of the presence of the vehicle. The experiments show that our system is reliable in detecting various sedan vehicles in the blind-spot area.

A Real-Time Embedded Blind Spot Safety Assistance System

This paper presents an effective vehicle and motorcycle detection system in the blind spot area in the daytime and nighttime scenes. The proposed method identifies vehicle and motorcycle by detecting the shadow and the edge features in the daytime, and the vehicle and motorcycle could be detected through locating the headlights at nighttime. First, shadow segmentation is performed to briefly locate the position of the vehicle. Then, the vertical and horizontal edges are utilized to verify the existence of the vehicle. After that, tracking procedure is operated to track the same vehicle in the consecutive frames. Finally, the driving behavior is judged by the trajectory. Second, the lamps in the nighttime are extracted based on automatic histogram thresholding, and are verified by spatial and temporal features to against the reflection of the pavement. The proposed real-time vision-based Blind Spot Safety-Assistance System has implemented and evaluated on a TI DM6437 platform to perform the vehicle detection on real highway, expressways, and urban roadways, and works well on sunny, cloudy, and rainy conditions in daytime and night time. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed vehicle detection approach is effective and feasible in various environments.

Application of digital human modeling and simulation for vision analysis of pilots in a jet aircraft: a case study

Ergonomic evaluation of visual demands becomes crucial for the operators/users when rapid decision making is needed under extreme time constraint like navigation task of jet aircraft. Research reported here comprises ergonomic evaluation of pilot's vision in a jet aircraft in virtual environment to demonstrate how vision analysis tools of digital human modeling software can be used effectively for such study. Three (03) dynamic digital pilot models, representative of smallest, average and largest Indian pilot population were generated from anthropometric database and interfaced with digital prototype of the cockpit in Jack software for analysis of vision within and outside the cockpit. Vision analysis tools like view cones, eye view windows, blind spot area, obscuration zone, reflection zone etc. were employed during evaluation of visual fields. Vision analysis tool was also used for studying kinematic changes of pilot's body joints during simulated gazing activity. From present study, it can be concluded that vision analysis tool of digital human modeling software was found very effective in evaluation of position and alignment of different displays and controls in the workstation based upon their priorities within the visual fields and anthropometry of the targeted users, long before the development of its physical prototype.

Vehicular Radio Scanner Using Phased Array Antenna for Dedicated Short Range Communication Service

Now a day’s accidents are very common due to increased population of vehicle. In order to ensure safety measures in the vehicle this paper has proposed some methodologies regarding careful driving by automatically scanning and analyzing the blind spot area of an intelligent mobile vehicle. A vehicular antenna with minimum perturbation is proposed to be fitted on the vehicle and collect information of the concern area which would ensure visibility of the operator i.e. masked or integrated within the car body. This paper has dealt with the design of Tchebyscheff polynomial based prototype planar microstrip phased array antenna and also redesigned the same when implemented in the body of the car being considered as an electromagnetically large element. Both the design has been experimentally verified with the measurement. The simulated and the measured results in both the cases are found to be in good agreement. More than 11 dB gain was observed at perfectly 30° angles from its broad side direction as desired for blind spot detection with minimum amount of electromagnetic interference inside the car.

A method to investigate drivers’ acceptance of Blind Spot Detection System®

Lately, with the goal of improving road safety, car makers developed and commercialised some Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which, through the detection of blind spot areas on the vehicle's sides, could help the drivers during the overtaking and the change lane task. Despite the possible benefits to reduce lateral crashes, the overall impact on road safety of such systems have not been deeply studied yet; notably, despite some researches have been carried out, there is a lack of studies regarding the long-term usage and drivers' acceptance of those systems. In order to fill the research gap, a methodology, based on the combination of focus groups interviews, questionnaires and a small-scale field operational test (FOT), has been designed in this study; such a methodology aims at evaluating drivers' acceptance of Blind Spot Information System® and at proposing some ideas to improve the usability and user-friendliness of this (or similar) device in their future development.