Most pedestrian and other Vulnerable Road User (VRU) fatalities happen during poor visibility conditions such as Ā evening and nighttime hours or bad weather conditions. Just like human perception, vehicle sensors are also challenged by these driving conditions and struggle with fog, darkness and blinding from oncoming traffic.
Thermal sensing is a breakthrough because it is not based on visible light and operates equally well during night and day. This makes it the ideal technology for night vision and pedestrian detection systems. Umicore design manufactures GASIRĀ® and germanium optics used in thermal (long-wave infrared) sensing systems.