click on a picture to see how night vision works
By Elizabeth Johnson GANNET NEWS SERVICE
click on a picture to see how night
vision works
The military is adept at using infrared technology to help its troops "see" in the dark. But when service members get behind the wheels of their personal cars, they have to follow their headlight beams just like everybody else.
Before this year, the only way American drivers could hope to see better in the dark was to eat more carrots. Now, General Motors offers an alternative. Through an option called Night Vision, the 2000 Cadillac Deville is the first car to put infrared technology in the hands and in front of the eyes of drivers, the manufacturer says. It's so popular that every 2000 model with Night vision -- 6,000 in all sold out. A Cadillac spokesman said the company is planning to equip more Devilles with the $1,995 option next year "to meet the high demand." Cadillacs aren't in most people's price range, but industry experts say that in time, many non-luxury cars will have infrared capability.
Every major automaker in the U.S. and Europe has a night-vision strategy in place and is moving forward with it" says Stuart Klapper, director of the automotive' program for Raytheon Commercial Electronics, which developed infrared (also known as thermal imaging) technology for both the military and the automotive consumer. Like air bags and anti-lock brakes before it, Night vision is designed for the driver's safety, according to Cadillac. "It's a benefit for all drivers," says Michael Albano, a spokesman for Cadillac. "No matter how good your eyes are, nobody can see in the dark." The infrared technology lets drivers see five times farther than low beams -- and, traveling at 60 mph, can allow them up to 13 more seconds to react to whatever lies ahead on (or on the side of) the road. The image is reflected onto the lower quarter of the windshield just below the driver's line of sight. Cadillac and Raytheon say the display is intended to be used much like a rear-view mirror -- drivers should just glance at it once in a while. But when it's easier to see things through the display than the windshield, it's hard to stop staring. What looks like a camera (it's actually a sensor) mounted in the car's grille senses heat up to 500 yards in front of the car. The system converts the heat into an image. Trees and foliage emit some heat, so they're visible, but humans and animals give off more, so they look hotter (or whiter) in contrast. The image is displayed on the windshield using what's called a head-up display, or HUD, allowing drivers to . keep their eyes forward while viewing the readout. What looks like a black-and-white movie in negative appears slightly larger than a rear-view mirror.
Gulf War boosted technology Scientists developed thermal imaging in the 1970s, but during the Gulf War it became "a major technological advantage," said Jim Ratehes, the chief scientist for the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Night vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate in Fort Belvoir, Va. The office managed the thermal-imaging contract held by Texas Instruments Defense" (now owned by Raytheon). During Operation Desert Storm, every AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter, M1 Abrams Battle Tank and M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle was equipped with the technology, giving the Army the slogan: "We own the night."
Raytheon, using financial support and sharing resources with GM and the federal government, worked to make the technology affordable and small enough for civilian use. Ratches said the medical field also has found some uses for it, such as locating tumors and seeing how laser surgery is progressing by the heat it creates. But one of the best reasons for drivers to get the option is to avoid deer. With data taken from a Cornell University study, it is estimated there are 50,000 to 60,000 collisions with deer in New York state which, extrapolated nationwide, reaches into the millions.
But can Night vision really help? The view could be wider at times. And when we took a drive over a pitch-black mountain read, the terrain was too hilly for Night vision to be of any help. It also depends on the speed at which you're driving; while the car makes a sharp turn, the image is often blurry. But even on a well-lighted street (not the optimum conditions since the darker it is outside, the better the system works), Night. Vision revealed something that otherwise might have been missed: the door of a parked car swinging open into our lane. It must have picked up the heat difference between the car's interior and the chilly evening air. The option is great if you drive often at night (and stick mainly to fairly straight reads).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, is conducting a yearlong study of the technology, and the agency is really testing it: While one of its researchers was trying out the car, he hit a deer. "The Night Vision helped him see the deer, but it was unable to help him evade the deer," said Tim Hurd, a spokesman for the agency. "And he's OK, so maybe it did help him." - NHTSA is looking at how drivers will use the system, and asking questions such as whether it distracts drivers, how well they recognize objects, how oncoming headlights affect visibility and when drivers use it most. The findings will be released before the end of the year, Hurd said.