Smart Headlights To Make Night Driving Eye-Friendly

Many of us have experienced the irritating flash of light from an oncoming vehicle while steering along a highway during the late hours. At that time, we just toddle along the side of the lane to avoid any disastrous situation. However, we may not always be so fortunate to avoid such situation and at that time the high-beam becomes the scourge of the nighttime driving. To avoid such conditions, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed a "smart headlight" that can track the oncoming vehicles and depending on the position of the other motor vehicle with respect to our vehicle can selectively black out a small part of the headlight beam. The blacking out of the small part of the beam is done with the help of programmable headlight senses.

The system uses a DLP projector, instead of a standard headlight or cluster of LEDs, which help the researchers to divide the light into a million diminutive beams. Each minuscule beam can be independently controlled by an onboard computer. The latency of the system, that is, the time difference between the detection by the camera and a corresponding adjustment in the illumination ranges from one to 2.5 milliseconds. 

Owing to this expeditious reaction, the system does not have to engage complex algorithms to envisage where the oncoming driver will be by the time the headlight system responds. There is a camera in the headlight which not only senses the oncoming automobile but also senses falling snow, rain, road signs, et al. The minute light beams are adjusted according to the objects coming on the way for instance, some beams will be dimmed to spare the eyes of the drivers while some will be illuminated to spotlight the traffic lane or street signs. The system works in tandem with a navigation system so that the programmable headlights can project directional signals to visually guide the drivers.

Though the project is at a nascent stage, the team plans to develop a smaller version of the headlights that could fit in the headlight slot of a truck by next year and later plans to minimize the size for smaller vehicles.