HARMAN introduces the Reverse Pedestrian Detection for enhanced safety

Stamford, CT: HARMAN has introduced a new safety system, the Reverse Pedestrian Detection that can successfully detect pedestrians, including smaller children aged between 12 and 23 months, who are most vulnerable to being hit in ‘back over’ accidents. This new technology combines a range of existing HARMAN technologies in the car, including a rear camera and sensor, to eliminate blind spots that kill or injure 15,000 pedestrians a year in the U.S. alone.

Over 70% incidents involving children are caused by a parent or relative behind the wheel. The problem only gets bigger with large SUVs, and the lack of attention amongst drivers who tend to rely on the effectiveness of sensors and cameras. While reversing cameras increase the driver’s field of vision, there are still areas on either side of the car that are not covered. With HARMAN’s Pedestrian Detection system, drivers can reverse more safely with confidence.

Traditional reversing sensors are optimised to detect larger obstacles, but the Reverse Pedestrian Detection technology uses real-time sensory data through advanced computer vision methods and a fish eye camera to detect pedestrians behind the vehicle and fuses it with data from the ultrasonic sensors for close pedestrian verification. To improve the accuracy, the application also uses the steering wheel angle and speed for calculating probable collision trajectories.

This cost-effective safety enhancement can be implementation without additional hardware, and can be housed in existing vehicle infotainment systems to minimise the cost, allowing more auto makers to benefit from it. Click on the video below to see how it works: