As part of its vision for accident-free driving, Mercedes-Benz is working to reduce the elevated accident risk associated with junctions. Assistance systems, such as the "Intersection Assistant" are designed to help the driver perceive hazardous situations, interpret them and handle them more safely.
One component of the Intersection Assistant might be pedestrian recognition. This system is intended to identify an impending collision at an early stage and to help the driver avoid it. As optical recognition of pedestrians is particularly difficult for technical systems, the researchers require several types of image information: surface texture, form or outline, movement and gait.
In order to do this, Mercedes-Benz computer specialists are using specially developed image processing software in their test vehicle. This Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which is equipped with stereo video cameras, a colour camera and image processing electronics is already able to detect standing and crossing pedestrians and to sight road signs, traffic lights, kerbs, directional arrows and zebra crossings.
