While Legislation Crashes, Collision Prevention Systems Succeed

Feb. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- Amsterdam, February 10th, 2010 - As state legislators across the United States enact laws that ban phoning or texting while driving, Mobileye has put its focus on creating the technology which can assist a driver regardless of the distraction. The Collision Prevention System, available on the Mobileye C2™ product line or with Mobileye’s OEM partners (Volvo, BMW, GM and others), allows multiple vision processing algorithms known as Driver Assistance Systems, DAS, running simultaneously to be added to the system. Each DAS monitors another aspect of the driving scene, and together they function as a safeguard for the driver and passengers. Some examples of DASes include Lane departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, Intelligent Headlamp Control, Pedestrian Detection, Traffic Sign Recognition and more.

A recent study by the Highway Data Loss Institute finds no reduction in the number of crashes after legislation has been past, banning the use of a hand-held phone while driving. Other studies, like the TNO Report on Accident Prevention Systems from 2009, clearly show the effectiveness of Mobileye’s Collision Prevention System on the road.

Mobileye’s new platform with multiple DASes has a 98% success rate - and can give the driver up to 3 seconds of early warnings before a possible rear-end collision occurs.  Studies show that 90% of rear-end collisions can be prevented if the driver receives 1.5 seconds of advance warning before the collision takes place.

Isaac Litman, Mobileye Products CEO says, “Our system saves lives! It succeeds where legislation has failed. The Mobileye C2 will open many new doors for us, and allow us to develop more DASes to detect even more obstacles in the path of a driver, and alert the driver BEFORE a situation occurs. We’ll be watching the road for you - even when you are not”.

To understand the image processing, imagine a digital camera in your vehicle taking 30 pictures of the road ahead of you every second. Each picture is analyzed by a computer software on a miniature vision processor, to determine the estimated time to contact with the lane marker; identify if there are any vehicles ahead of you, and calculate how fast they are traveling by comparing the images of the vehicles in all 30 frames - and most important, identifying if the leading vehicle has slowed down or come to a stop!; while at the same time, identifying if there is an approaching vehicle with headlamps on - and then signaling to your vehicles controller to lower your hi-beams so as not to blind the other driver; and identifying traffic signs to help make sure you are within the speed limits. All of these DASes run simultaneously on a single unit, about the size of ones hand, and mounts on the windshield behind the rear view mirror.

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Mobileye is a pioneer in the development of vision-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), providing data for applications such as Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, Headway Monitoring, Pedestrian Detection and more...