Browsing by Author "Connell, Caroline A."

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    Bicycle Visibility: Conspicuity of Bicycle Headlamps, Tail Lamps, and Retroreflective Garments in Nighttime Roadway Environments
    Bhagavathula, Rajaram; Gibbons, Ronald B.; Williams, Brian M.; Connell, Caroline A. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2020-07-21)
    Cyclist deaths are overrepresented among traffic fatalities, and increasing cyclist conspicuity to drivers could potentially reduce cyclist deaths, particularly at night. This report describes an experiment with various commercially available bicycle visibility-enhancement systems in terms of their conspicuity to drivers during the day and at night. Visibility enhancements included a headlamp, tail lamp, spoke lights, and retroreflective clothing, including garments that highlight biomotion. The results indicate that active visibility treatments, such as bicycle-mounted lights, make cyclists more conspicuous than passive systems like retroreflective vests and biomotion bands. Flashing headlamps and tail lamps were the most conspicuous treatments during both the day and at night; fast flashing headlamps (6.7 Hz) had higher detection distances and rates during the day, and moderately fast flashing headlamps (3.4 Hz) had higher detection distances and rates at night. Spoke lights and flashing tail lamps, along with retroreflective vests, also aided cyclist visibility during the day and at night, especially for vehicles approaching intersecting cyclists. Passive retroreflective visibility treatments were most effective at night, when the vehicle was passing the cyclist from behind. However, that approach also used reflectors, so the discrete effect of passive retroreflective treatments could not be determined. This study also found that biomotion markers alone do not significantly increase cyclist conspicuity in visually complex natural environments. For most approaches, flashing lights had greater detection distances than biomotion markers, which in turn had higher detection rates than headlamps and tail lamps.
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    Color Camera
    Meyer, Jason E.; Gibbons, Ronald B.; Connell, Caroline A. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2017-02-28)
    Under the sponsorship of the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence (NSTSCE), a research team at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) developed a color camera system that can collect naturalistic video data with accurate color rendering. Photometric devices can accurately measure color but cannot record the video data necessary for understanding visibility in dynamic environments like nighttime driving. Video recorders can take video data but are inaccurate with respect to color measurement. To measure color and its effects on visibility in naturalistic settings, a color camera system was developed that can record video data with color rendering similar to what humans perceive. This system includes a calibrated color camera and image analysis software. The camera system was selected and calibrated in different lighting scenarios using a standard color chart. Custom MATLAB programs were used for this calibration. These calibration files were compared for color-rendering accuracy, and the best file, based on calibration in daylight, was selected for further analysis. Researchers then used the color camera system, calibrated with the daylight file, to collect data in a variety of naturalistic settings. The color space coordinates from the color camera’s images were compared with those taken with a color meter and a digital photometer. When the camera was calibrated to daylight, it produced the most-accurate images, even when taking images in artificial lighting. Shorter exposure times produced darker images but more-accurate color space coordinates. After calibration and exposure adjustment, the color camera’s chromaticity coordinates (x, y) had about 10% error with respect to the color meter. The color camera’s luminance value (Y) had less than 5% error with respect to the color meter. The calibration file produced can be used with multiple cameras. A new image analysis method was developed. It and its accompanying custom MATLAB programs allow researchers to select portions of an image and analyze their three-dimensional color space coordinates. This capability will be useful in future work; for example, comparing photometric equipment, and analyzing naturalistic video data.