Machine vision systems have long been the staple of technology in manufacturing settings. Their ability to speed up production lines and to better notice flaws in manufactured items, makes them an invaluable piece of equipment.
Did you know, though that machine vision systems are also being used in self-driving cars? With these machine vision systems, vehicles can maintain their speed, avoid collisions and automatically part. While Google has been testing its self-driving vehicle, it is not a technology that is available to the masses… yet.
Photonics companies have also been working on developing artificially intelligent robot automobiles that can be self-driving and automated. “Smart car” technologies have been employed since Mitsubishi introduced a feature in 1995 that allowed the vehicle to maintain both a steady speed, but a constant distance from vehicles surrounding it. Most, if not all, vehicle manufacturers today provide adaptive cruise control in high end model vehicles.
Full collision avoidance systems are also being included in higher end vehicles such as Volvo and Acura models. These vehicles use radar, cameras, sensors or a combination of them to continually monitor the surroundings. Many of these vehicles employ a 6-D vision system that engages multipurpose cameras and multistage radar sensors. Vehicles that have “lane-maintaining” systems are equipped with side camera radars and sensors. Some are also equipped with thermal infrared imaging cameras that provide night vision that can alert the driver to potential obstacles in the road.
While some believe that “too much” technology will lead to drivers being even more distracted behind the wheel, many feel that the newer “self-driving” technologies could prevent accidents because humans have been removed from the equation.
UKA Optics is a manufacturer of standard and custom CCD/CMOS lens assemblies for board and miniature camera applications including digital photography, video conferencing, surveillance, barcode scanning, machine vision and medical systems.