2010

Preejo Mathew Roll. No. 55

Reg. No. 88050259 Final Year Automobile
Engineering
6/11/2010

Seminar Report on “NIGHT

VISION IN CARS”

GOVERNMENT COLLEGE

KALAMASSERY
 KALAMASSERY

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE
ENGINEERING

Seminar Report On

“NIGHT VISION IN CARS”

Submitted by:
PREEJO MATHEW
ROLL.NO: 55
REG. NO: 88050259

FINAL YEAR AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING

2010-2011
This is to certify that the seminar report entitled NIGHT VISION
IN CARS was presented by PREEJO MATHEW with Reg. No.
88050259 of final year Automobile Engineering, government
polytechnic college, Kalamassery in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the award of Diploma in Automobile
Engineering under the board of Diploma in automobile
Engineering under the board of technical education, during the
year 2010-2011.

Guided by

Mr. Biju George Mr. Sadanandan T.V

Lecturer Head of Section

Internal Examiner External Examiner

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me immense pleasure to present the report of this

project work that has been undertaken during my final year
Diploma Course. The project titled “NIGHT VISION IN CARS.”

I take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to

Sri. T.V. Sadanandan, Head of the Automobile Engineering,
Sri. Biju George, Lecturer in Automobile Department and all
the staff in the Automobile Department for their valuable
guidance, inspiration and help to do this seminar and make it a
success.

I also express my heartily thanks to all my friends for their

devoted help and moral support for the completion of this
seminar.

With affectionate regards

Preejo Mathew

CONTENTS

● ABSTRACT 1

● INTRODUCTION 2

● BASICS 3

● CAR NIGHT VISION SYSTEMS 4

● NIGHT VISION FOR CARS 5

● HOW NIGHT VISION WORKS 6

 ● INFRARED LIGHT 7

● STRUCTURE OR WORKING PRINCLIPLE 11

● ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 12

● CONCLUSION 13

● REFERANCE 14

Page No.: 1

ABSTRACT

In this article, we'll look at night vision systems found in

production cars. You will understand how two of the leading
manufacturers in the auto industry are taking back the night in
attempt to make driving in the dark safer. In recent years,
multiple studies have been conducted in the United States as
well as Europe and they all seem to paint the same general
picture: The majority of driving is done with the aid of daylight,
yet a high volume of fatal accidents occur at night.

Page No.: 2

INTRODUCTION
In 2000, General Motors offered a thermal night-vision system
in its Cadillac line of vehicles. The system was innovative, but it
was also expensive and didn't produce very clear images.
Toyota also gave night vision a shot, and even now the
automaker continues to offer an in-dash system in some Lexus
models. The Lexus system has its fans, but if it's so effective,
then why hasn't this technology spread to every vehicle on the
road? One theory is that it seems as if the technology just isn't
fully ready for automotive applications. Not yet, anyway. As you
can imagine, night-vision technology is expensive and if you
use inexpensive components, the quality simply won't be there.

Page No.: 3

Basics

What is night vision?

The human eye can see images which reflect light from violet to
red in the electromagnetic color spectrum. Beyond the visible
spectrum for humans is the light known as short-wave infrared,
light. The human eye is unable to see that light.

Infrared light actually falls into three classifications:

near-infrared (near-IR or NIR), mid-infrared (mid-IR or MIR)
and far-infrared (far-IR or FIR), also known as
thermal-infrared. The difference between the three types of
infrared light comes down to wavelengths. Near-IR, or NIR, has
the shortest wavelength -- smaller than 1.5 microns -- and is
closest to what we as humans can see as visible light. Far-IR,
or FIR, is quite different. Thermal infrared wavelengths can be
up to 30 microns and FIR is emitted from an object rather than
reflected. The two main methods of night vision are thermal
imaging and photon detection or image enhancing

Page No.: 4
Car Night Vision System

Mercedes-Benz uses an active system or near-IR system that illuminates the

night with projected infrared light, much like optics found in military-issue
night-vision goggles. BMW's passive system, on the other hand, uses far-IR or
FIR technology in its onboard night-vision systems.
Unlike night-vision optics used for military applications, BMW's system
registers images based on body heat and produces images that resemble a
photo negative. While that works well for deciphering between animals and
people, it doesn't do much for revealing a dead animal in the middle of the
road or perhaps a large rock or a fallen tree. BMW's infrared system uses
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensors on the
front of the car that pick up heat from objects and processes the thermal
signature to display images on a quarter video graphics array (QVGA) display
(320x240-pixel resolution) mounted on the dash in the center of the vehicle's
console.
In contrast, the Mercedes system uses NIR technology and produces an even,
clear picture in the dark. This system is similar to night-vision goggles soldiers’
use. Like the military-issued night-vision goggles, the NIR system in the
Mercedes illuminates everything as if it were in the high beams of the vehicle.
By utilizing a series of projection bulbs and cameras, the Mercedes' active
night-vision system picks up the faintest traces of light and transforms it into a
clear picture. The advantage is that the Mercedes system can see warmer
living things just as clear as it can spot colder, dead animals or non-living
objects. The drawback to the Mercedes system is its range: The system has a
maximum effective range of less than 600 feet (183 meters). Another
drawback is the Mercedes' NIR system doesn't handle fog well, while the
BMW's FIR system can see through the dense conditions. But unlike the
BMW's system, the Mercedes monitor is located behind the steering wheel,
directly in the driver's line of sight to the road, and the image quality is also
crisper on the NIR system.
Both systems can be turned on or off by the driver with controls found near the
high-beam lever and neither system is affected by oncoming bright lights. Both
are easy on the eyes too, so sensitivity to light should not be a problem for
most drivers. Researchers from the two companies are also in the process of
perfecting warning indicators on the night-vision systems.
Both systems cost an extra $2,000 to $2,500. While that may sound like a
significant amount of money, when you look at the price tag of a 7-Series
BMW or S-Class Mercedes, two vehicles that can easily top $100,000, it
somehow seems a bit more reasonable -- especially when you consider the
benefit of being able to see through the darkness.

Page No.: 5

Night vision for cars

Bosch has released an enhanced version of its night vision system, first
featured in this year's new Mercedes E-class.
The new system can
identify pedestrians and
alert the driver to their
presence.
Like its predecessor the
system, dubbed "Night
Vision plus" by the
German electronics giant,
provides a high-contrast
image of the area
immediately ahead of the vehicle. The difference is that the image is also
analysed in the latest version.
As pedestrians are identified and highlighted on the screen, the driver has
much more time to take action than they would if relying on the beams of
headlamps alone.
The technology, known within Mercedes-Benz as "Night View Assist Plus" is
also available on the latest S-Class.
The Bosch active night vision system uses four main components to provide
an accurate reproduction of the area immediately ahead of the vehicle.
Infrared headlights with a range of 150 metres – three times further than
conventional dipped headlights – "illuminate" the road, and what they pick up
is recorded by a camera behind the windscreen. The images are then
processed by a control unit and shown on a high-resolution display in the
cockpit.
A separate control unit analyses the camera image to detect the reflected
infrared light – the clever part is software that allows the system to distinguish
between stationary and moving objects.
A moving object, such as a pedestrian, is highlighted on the screen display
and allows early reaction by the driver.

Page No.: 6

How Night Vision Works

The first thing you probably think of when you see the words night vision is a
spy or action movie you've seen, in which someone straps on a pair of
night-vision goggles to find someone else in a dark building on a moonless
night. And you may have wondered "Do those things really work? Can you
actually see in the dark?"
The answer is most definitely yes. With the proper night-vision equipment, you
can see a person standing over 200 yards (183 m) away on a moonless,
cloudy night! Night vision can work in two very different ways, depending on
the technology used.
● Image enhancement - This works by collecting the tiny amounts of
light, including the lower portion of the infrared light spectrum, that are
present but may be imperceptible to our eyes, and amplifying it to the
point that we can easily observe the image.
● Thermal imaging - This technology operates by capturing the upper
portion of the infrared light spectrum, which is emitted as heat by
objects instead of simply reflected as light. Hotter objects, such as warm
bodies, emit more of this light than cooler objects like trees or buildings.
In this article, you will learn about the two major night-vision technologies.
We'll also discuss the various types of night-vision equipment and
applications. But first, let's talk about infrared light.

Page No.: 7

Infrared Light
In order to understand night vision, it is important to understand something
about light. The amount of energy in a light wave is related to its wavelength:
Shorter wavelengths have
higher energy. Of visible light,
violet has the most energy,
and red has the least. Just
next to the visible light
spectrum is the infrared
spectrum.
 

Infrared light is a small part of the light

spectrum.
Infrared light can be split into three categories:
● Near-infrared (near-IR) - Closest to visible light, near-IR has
wavelengths that range from 0.7 to 1.3 microns, or 700 billionths to
1,300 billionths of a meter.
● Mid-infrared (mid-IR) - Mid-IR has wavelengths ranging from 1.3 to 3
microns. Both near-IR and mid-IR are used by a variety of electronic
devices, including remote controls.
● Thermal-infrared (thermal-IR) - Occupying the largest part of the
infrared spectrum, thermal-IR has wavelengths ranging from 3 microns
to over 30 microns.

Page No.: 8

1. Thermal Imaging
Here's how thermal imaging works:
1. A special lens focuses the infrared light emitted by all of the objects in
view.
2. The focused light is scanned by a phased array of infrared-detector
elements. The detector elements create a very detailed temperature
pattern called a thermogram. It only takes about one-thirtieth of a
second for the detector array to obtain the temperature information to
make the thermogram. This information is obtained from several
thousand points in the field of view of the detector array.
3. The thermogram created by the detector elements is translated into
electric impulses.
4. The impulses are sent to a signal-processing unit, a circuit board with a
dedicated chip that translates the information from the elements into
data for the display.
5. The signal-processing unit sends the information to the display, where it
appears as various colours depending on the intensity of the infrared
emission. The combination of all the impulses from all of the elements
creates the image.
 The basic components of a thermal-imaging system

Page No.: 9

Types of Thermal Imaging Devices

Most thermal-imaging devices scan at a rate of 30 times per second. They can
sense temperatures ranging from -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius)
to 3,600 F (2,000 C), and can normally detect changes in temperature of
about 0.4 F (0.2 C).

It is quite easy to see everything ...but at night, you can see

during the day... very little.

Thermal imaging lets you see again.

 2. Image Enhancement
Image-enhancement technology is what most people think of when you talk
about night vision. In fact, image-enhancement systems are normally called
night-vision devices (NVDs). NVDs rely on a special tube, called an
image-intensifier tube, to collect and amplify infrared and visible light.

The image-intensifier tube changes photons to electrons and back again.

Page No.: 10
Here's how image enhancement works:
1. A conventional lens, called the objective lens, captures ambient light
and some near-infrared light.
2. The gathered light is sent to the image-intensifier tube. In most NVDs,
the power supply for the image-intensifier tube receives power from two
N-Cell or two "AA" batteries. The tube outputs a high voltage, about
5,000 volts, to the image-tube components.
3. The image-intensifier tube has a photocathode, which is used to
convert the photons of light energy into electrons.
4. As the electrons pass through the tube, similar electrons are released
from atoms in the tube, multiplying the original number of electrons by a
factor of thousands through the use of a microchannel plate (MCP) in
the tube. An MCP is a tiny glass disc that has millions of microscopic
holes (microchannels) in it, made using fibre-optic technology. The MCP
is contained in a vacuum and has metal electrodes on either side of the
disc. Each channel is about 45 times longer than it is wide, and it works
as an electron multiplier. When the electrons from the photo cathode hit
the first electrode of the MCP, they are accelerated into the glass
microchannels by the 5,000-V bursts being sent between the electrode
pair. As electrons pass through the microchannels, they cause
thousands of other electrons to be released in each channel using a
process called cascaded secondary emission. Basically, the original
electrons collide with the side of the channel, exciting atoms and
 causing other electrons to be released. These new electrons also
collide with other atoms, creating a chain reaction that results in
thousands of electrons leaving the channel where only a few entered.
An interesting fact is that the microchannels in the MCP are created at a
slight angle (about a 5-degree to 8-degree bias) to encourage electron
collisions and reduce both ion and direct-light feedback from the
phosphors on the output side.

5. At the end of the image-intensifier tube, the electrons hit a screen

coated with phosphors. These electrons maintain their position in
relation to the channel they passed through, which provides a perfect
image since the electrons stay in the same alignment as the original
photons. The energy of the electrons causes the phosphors to reach an
excited state and release photons. These phosphors create the green
image on the screen that has come to characterize night vision. The
green phosphor image is viewed through another lens, called the
ocular lens, which allows you to magnify and focus the image. The
NVD may be connected to an electronic display.

Page No.: 11

Structure / Working Principle NVD

Similar to the term 'photomultiplier' the operational basics of an image

intensifier tube makes attentive to the physical working principle, the
'multiplication' or 'amplification' of the existing 'low light'.
Beside the small range of electromagnetic radiation visible for the human
eye (between 380 - 780 Nm wavelength) there is a lot of other (invisible)
electromagnetic radiation of higher and lower wavelength existing. Every
radio-station and also each warm object emits electromagnetic radiation
in certain wavelengths. While at night there is very little radiation
'detectable' for the human eye, a varying quantity of infrared radiation
(IR-radiation) is present in the EM-spectrum starting from 700 Nm.

The night vision device functions like 'correction eyeglasses', by catching

the radiation of this wavelength, amplifying / converting it electronically
and delivering it as light within the visible spectral range.
Therefore one also speaks of 'opto-electronic devices', which are either
'active' (i.e. use an IR-light source for illuminating the environment) or
only use 'passively' the low light.

A night vision device consists of three parts (optical - electronical -

optical):

- Objective Lens, collects and focuses the low light - particularly

permeable for IR-radiation

- Image Intensifier Tube (IIT), converts photons in electrons

(photocathode), multiplies these and converts it back again in light
(phosphor screen)
- Eyepiece Lens, magnifies the relatively small image of the image
intensifier tube

Page No.: 12

ADVANTAGES

■ No particular skill required

■ Accidents cases reduction

■ Compact system

■ 3x range visual
 DISADVANTAGES

■ The only disadvantage is that the Initial cost too high

Page No.: 13

CONCLUSION
The Night vision device (NVD) is undoubtedly one of the most enduring
features of the automobile industry. It has lasted from its initial
introduction in 2000 to the present day and in some places, still hardly
different from its Victorian origins. There have been many improvements
over the years without any skill required.
Page No.: 14

REFERANCES

● www.howstuffwork.com

● www.wikipedia.com

● www.bosch.com