Abstract: Advanced automotive active-safety systems, in general, and autonomous vehicles, in particular, rely heavily on visual data to classify and localize objects, most notably pedestrians and other nearby cars, to assist the corresponding vehicles maneuver safely in their environment. However, the performance of object detection methods is anticipated to degrade under challenging rainy conditions. Nevertheless, and despite major advancements in the development of deraining approaches, the impact of rain on object detection has largely been understudied, especially in the context of autonomous systems. This disclosure analyzes this problem space and presents an improved system for detecting objects under rainy conditions.

Abstract: Advanced automotive active-safety systems, in general, and autonomous vehicles, in particular, rely heavily on visual data to classify and localize objects, most notably pedestrians and other nearby cars, to assist the corresponding vehicles maneuver safely in their environment. However, the performance of object detection methods is anticipated to degrade under challenging rainy conditions. Nevertheless, and despite major advancements in the development of deraining approaches, the impact of rain on object detection has largely been understudied, especially in the context of autonomous systems. This disclosure analyzes this problem space and presents an improved system for detecting objects under rainy conditions.

Abstract: A mounted polarizer and corresponding assembly method is provided. The mounted polarizer includes a substrate, and a polarizer with a plurality of parallel wires mounted on a supporting base. An epoxy binds the polarizer to the substrate, such that the plurality of parallel wires is mounted between the substrate and the supporting base, and the epoxy is in direct contact with the plurality of wires. The substrate, the epoxy and the supporting base all have a substantially matching refractive index. The mounted polarizer substantially transmits one polarization of light, and substantially blocks transmission of another polarization of light.