Currently, adaptive cut-off line systems are under development. These systems aim to close the gap between high beams and low beams by adapting the cut-off line with respect to other traffic participants. By expanding the range of headlamps, it should remain beyond doubt that there is an increase of illumination on the road ahead. This study considers the question whether an adaptive cut-off line system leads to a remarkable improvement of detection distances for obstacles such as pedestrians. The experiment was carried out in the Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. light tunnel in Lippstadt. A heterogenous sample (average age: 32 years (23-65), 33 males / 12 females) of N = 45 subjects was asked to indicate whether or not they were able to detect a pedestrian in a certain stepwise altered distance. The range of the beam was varied by manipulating VarioX(TM) headlamp modules manually. In the first run participants faced an oncoming vehicle simulated by headlamps mounted on a rack at a distance of 100 meters. In the second part of the study, rear lights were placed 140 meters ahead of the subjects. Detection distances were obtained in both settings for regular low beam and a raised cut-off line adjusted to the distance of the simulated traffic partner. The data shows a highly significant improvement in detection distances of about 30 meters, each for oncoming (104 / 135 m, s = 6,9 / 6,1) and preceding (94 / 124 m, s = 7,9 / 9,5) traffic situation. Further research in the field is intended in order to cover farther distances that cannot be realized in the light tunnel.
Improving detection distances by an adaptive cut-off line system
Verbesserung der Erkennungsdistanz durch ein adaptives Cutoff-Linien System
2007
7 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 7 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Detection Distances to Crosswalk Markings
Transportation Research Record | 2011
|AOID: adaptive on-line incident detection system
IEEE | 2006
|Detection Distances in the Presence of Glare
SAE Technical Papers | 1993
|