Lane Assistance Systems in ADAS

Driving a car is really a complex process, and the human brain undergoes complex mathematics to deal with object detection and classification. The most important classification is lane; breaking a lane can also lead to critical road issues. To help drivers follow lanes and avoid accidents, automobile manufacturers have introduced Lane Assist Systems.

Lane assists systems (LAS) are features introduced by advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), preventing accidents caused during lane departure or vehicles running away from a lane. Car manufacturing companies include camera systems that detect road lanes and command actuators to achieve this.

The use of computer vision concepts and libraries of OpenCV help in tracing out the lane in each frame. One of the major concepts in identifying lanes is edge detection. The edges in the lane are detected using kernels of 3x3 or 5x5, which are rotated across the image to note the changes happening through pixels. Change in pixelation means extracting the features out of the image.

A video is termed a motion picture, a picture representing a photo or frame. The continuous movement of a series of pictures develops a motion picture. This can also be termed a video. This fundamental knowledge is considered for developing feature extraction from an image/frame.

In feature extraction, we use image processing techniques to check the changes within pixels to extract a template that can fit/fill over the real-time video. The video is subjected to an algorithm that removes the non-continuous lines to have a track on only lanes.

Lane assist systems are getting highly popular in vehicles due to their ability to upgrade safety systems. If the vehicle starts moving out of the lane, the LAS will alert the driver with visual or auditory alerting signals. Haptic feedback can also be added to the steering wheel so that the driver can keep track of the lane. LAS can also help drivers with active steering assistance to keep vehicles in the lane. The process can be achieved by passing characters from the Computer Vision algorithm to a secondary embedded device controlling the actuation process. This feature is especially useful for tired or distracted drivers who may not be able to react quickly enough to avoid an accident.

Besides unintended lane departures, LAS enhances the driver’s awareness of the surroundings. For example, if a second vehicle is approaching an ADAS vehicle from behind, then with the help of RADAR, the ADAS car can detect and take the decision to lane change.

LAS is a highly recommended feature for Adaptive Cruise Control. The camera fusion with front radar can detect front vehicle speed, help decelerate, and enable automatic emergency braking. These features are significantly important in supporting active safety systems.

Despite the many benefits of LAS, some engineering challenges need to be addressed, like road conditions (if the lane is not marked on the road or the road is under construction), weather conditions (rainy and foggy climate can decay the sensitivity of detection process) and rough terrains. These challenges can reduce the detection confidence by the algorithm and lead to false alarms or warnings.

Another challenge that adds to LAS is the cost of the setup to be installed over a vehicle. The LAS is expensive to install and maintain, which indirectly adds to the overall cost of a vehicle. However, with growing awareness and lite version algorithms, the LAS in a vehicle will be affordable.

In conclusion, lane assist systems are an important safety feature that can help prevent accidents caused by unintended lane departures. They use a combination of sensors and cameras to detect the vehicle's position on the road and provide warning signals to the driver if the vehicle starts to move away from the lane. Lane assist systems can also provide active steering assistance to help the driver stay within their lane. While some potential engineering challenges need to be addressed by engineers, such as driver complacency and adverse weather conditions, the benefits of lane assist systems far outweigh the risks. LAS is part of active safety systems and ADAS, which every car manufacturer will try to incorporate for future products.

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