SWIR Cameras for the Automotive Field: Two Test Cases

This paper presents the results obtained by the 2WIDE_SENSE Project, an EU funded project aimed at developing a low cost camera sensor able to acquire the full spectrum from the visible bandwidth to the Short Wave InfraRed one (from 400 to 1700 nm). Two specific applications have been evaluated, both related to the automotive field: one regarding the possibility of detecting icy and wet surfaces in front of the vehicle and the other regarding the pedestrian detection capability. The former application relies on the physical fact that water shows strong electromagnetic radiation absorption capabilities in the SWIR band around 1450 nm and thus an icy or wet pavement should be seen as dark; the latter is based on the observation that the amount of radiation in the SWIR band is quite high even at night and in case of poor weather conditions. Results show that even the use of SWIR and visible spectrum seems to be a promising approach; the use in outdoor environment is not always effective.