DEVILLE BECOMES FIRST CAR TO OFFER SAFETY BENEFITS OF NIGHT VISION




 

Autoworld.com - David Lee - During the Persian Gulf War, infrared technology enabled coalition military forces to own the night battlefield. With the introduction of Night Vision on the 2000 DeVille, Cadillac becomes the first automaker to bring the safety benefit of this technology to drivers. 

Improving vision at night is an important safety advancement. While nighttime driving represents only 28 percent of total driving, it accounts for 55 percent of all traffic fatalities, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Of all pedestrian fatalities, 62 percent occur at night. In addition, highway safety authorities recorded more than 300,000 vehicle-deer collisions in 1997, many of which could have been avoided with more time to react to the hazard.

While Night Vision is not meant to replace a driver’s view out of the windshield, it gives drivers additional visual information beyond what their eyes are capable of seeing. Night Vision helps the driver detect potentially dangerous situations well beyond the normal headlight range.



The extra vision extends three-to-five times the range of low-beam headlights and double the range of high-beam headlights. At 60 miles per hour, normal
headlights provide a driver about 3.5 seconds to react to an object ahead. With Night Vision, the driver will have up to 15 seconds to react. The system also can help drivers see beyond the headlight glare from oncoming vehicles.

In addition, Night Vision can help enhance personal security. For example, as a DeVille driver pulls into a driveway, the system can help detect a person hiding in the bushes or out of the range of the headlights.

THERMAL IMAGING

Available as an option on all 2000 DeVille models, Cadillac’s Night Vision is based on technology developed by Raytheon Systems Co. Night Vision uses
thermal imaging, or infrared, technology to create pictures based on heat energy emitted by objects in the viewed scene.

Everything emits heat to some degree. But humans, animals and moving vehicles emit enough heat energy to contrast sharply with their surroundings when viewed with Night Vision equipment.

DeVille’s Night Vision uses a refractive optical-lens system to gather infrared energy. A grille-mounted camera views the path ahead through an
infrared-transparent window approximately three inches in diameter. Just behind this window, refractive optics are used to focus the infrared energy on a 1-inch-square detector. Information from the detector is passed to sensor electronics that translate the data into a monochromatic image.

The virtual image that is produced looks something like a black and white photographic negative — hotter objects appear white and cooler objects appear black. Objects such as people, animals and running vehicles stand out from the black background of the night.

HEAD-UP DISPLAY

Because the virtual image is projected by a head-up display (HUD) rather than on a flat screen mounted in the car, Cadillac’s Night Vision helps drivers keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. The image is projected near the front edge of the hood — in the driver’s peripheral vision — and was designed not to obstruct the view of the road. 

The image has a horizontal field of view of 11 degrees and a vertical field of view of 4 degrees. Objects in the image are the same size as the objects in the road scene, helping the driver relate the image to the road scene and judge the distance to an object. 

Night Vision powers up when the key is in the "on" position, when the Twilight Sentinel photo cell indicates it’s dark out, and if the headlights are on. Using a switch in the instrument panel, drivers can turn the system on and off, and they also can adjust the image intensity and image vertical position.  -Autoworld.com

                                                                               

 

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