AN ADVANCED LASER-BASED TRACKING DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE LANE POSITION MONITORING AND STEERING ASSISTANCE

THE PROPOSED DEVICE ALLOWS THE DETECTION, IDENTIFICATION ANDTRACKING OF ALL TYPES OF EXISTING ROADWAY PAVEMENT DELINEATORS. THE INFORMATION WILL PROVIDE LATERAL POSITION SENSING. THE CONCEPT OF ROADWAY LANE POSITIONING IS NOT NEW, BUT RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN DIODE LASERS AND SOLID STATEDETECTORS PROVIDE THE MEANS TO FINALLY IMPLEMENT A WORKABLE SENSOR. THE PROPOSED OPTICAL SENSOR WILL BE COMPACT, INEXPENSIVE, ROBUST AND RELIABLE. THE PROPOSED SENSOR SHOULD FIND IMMEDIATE APPLICATION AS A WARNING DEVICE TO ALERT DRIVERS OF VEHICLES DRIFTING OUT OF LANE. THE SAFETY IMPLICATIONS OF DRIVER FATIGUE, DROWSINESS AND IMPAIRED OPERATION WILL BE ADDRESSED THROUGH THIS WARNING FEATURE. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND REFINEMENT WILL PERMIT THE SENSOR TOACT AS A STEERING ASSIST, RELIEVING THE DRIVER OF THE TEDIOUS JOB OF CONTINUALLY MONITORING LANE POSITION. A FINAL IMPLEMENTATION WOULD BE A SENSOR THAT PROVIDES STEERING CONTROL FOR THE FULLY AUTOMATED HIGHWAY CONCEPT.