Pedestrian Detection on a Moving Vehicle: an Investigation about Near Infra-Red Images

The aim of this paper is to investigate the employment of a NIR (near infra-red) camera on a moving vehicle for pedestrian detection, considering the NIR radiation as a suitable waveband for a single sensor device. In particular, we studied a system with special attention to cost, in order to make it affordable for all vehicles. We used as equipment an analog NIR CCD camera and examined the system behaviour in three different lighting conditions: daytime, nighttime using dipped-beam headlights and nighttime using full-beam headlights. Subsequently we chose the lighting situation which proved, in the long run, to be the most suitable for pedestrian detection. The algorithm proved to be efficient in common exurban scenarios