Smart Headlight System Erases Rain and Snow to Improve Visibility
Posted on July 3, 2012
Technology Review reports that Srinivasa Narasimhan and co-researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing a new smart headlight system that removes raindrops and snow. The smart headlights use a camera, computer and projector system to capture and remove falling rain and snow. The driver never sees most of the precipitation and gets a clearer view of the road ahead.
Carnegie Mellon's Illumination and Imaging team says, "The camera images the precipitation at the top of the field of view, the processor determines the future locations of the particles and the projector reacts to dis-illuminate the particles."
The system is less effective the faster a vehicle is traveling. Technology Review says the Smart Headlight can remove 70% of the rain at 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 mph) and 15% to 20% at 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph). Even a reduction in the amount of visible rain or snow by 15% is going to result in improved visibility for the driver.
A video presentation of the technology can be found here. A short clip that shows most of the rain disappearing with the smart headlight can be found here.