Electronic imaging aids for night driving: low-light CCD, uncooled thermal IR, and color-fused visible/LWIR

Allen M. Waxman; Eugene D. Savoye; David A. Fay; Mario Aguilar; Alan N. Gove; James E. Carrick; Joseph P. Racamato

doi:10.1117/12.267163

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17 February 1997 Electronic imaging aids for night driving: low-light CCD, uncooled thermal IR, and color-fused visible/LWIR

Allen M. Waxman, Eugene D. Savoye, David A. Fay, Mario Aguilar, Alan N. Gove, James E. Carrick, Joseph P. Racamato

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2902, Transportation Sensors and Controls: Collision Avoidance, Traffic Management, and ITS; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.267163
Event: Photonics East '96, 1996, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is developing new electronic night vision technologies for defense applications which can be adapted for civilian applications such as night driving aids. These technologies include (1) low-light CCD imagers capable of operating under starlight illumination conditions at video rates, (2) realtime processing of wide dynamic range imagery (visible and IR) to enhance contrast and adaptively compress dynamic range, and (3) realtime fusion of low-light visible and thermal IR imagery to provide color display of the night scene to the operator in order to enhance situational awareness. This paper compares imagery collected during night driving including: low-light CCD visible imagery, intensified-CCD visible imagery, uncooled long-wave IR imagery, cryogenically cooled mid-wave IR imagery, and visible/IR dual-band imagery fused for gray and color display.

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Allen M. Waxman, Eugene D. Savoye, David A. Fay, Mario Aguilar, Alan N. Gove, James E. Carrick, and Joseph P. Racamato "Electronic imaging aids for night driving: low-light CCD, uncooled thermal IR, and color-fused visible/LWIR", Proc. SPIE 2902, Transportation Sensors and Controls: Collision Avoidance, Traffic Management, and ITS, (17 February 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.267163

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