Plenary Lecture

Computer Vision Techniques for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems - Applications and Trends

Assc. Professor Miguel Angel Sotelo Vazquez
Department of Electronics
University of Alcala
Madrid, Spain

Abstract: In order to improve traffic safety, both the scientific community and the automobile industry have contributed to the development of different types of safety systems. In the last decade, research has also moved towards more intelligent on-board systems that aim to anticipate and try to avoid or mitigate the severity of traffic accidents. These systems are referred to as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in the sense that they assist the driver to take decisions, provide signals in possible dangerous driving situations, and perform counteractive measures in cases of unavoidable accidents. Examples of ADAS are Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), for automatically maintaining a safe time gap with a preceding vehicle, and Lane Departure Warning (LDW), for warning the driver in case the vehicle starts to leave the lane inadvertently. A major characteristic of ADAS is the requirement of observing and understanding key aspects of the vehicle’s environment in real-time. For this purpose, the use of Computer Vision is becoming a kind of standard that most car manufacturers are incorporating in their latest models. Current applications of Vision-based ADAS will be presented as well as the future trends.

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Dr. Miguel Angel Sotelo obtained his PhD in Telecommunications Engineering in 2001. He is Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of the Polytechnic School at the University of Alcala (Madrid, Spain), and Head of the Robotics and eSafety Research Group. His research activities are focused on the application of Computer Vision to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Intelligent Vehicles, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Since 2004, he is Expert Evaluator and Auditor of Research and Development projects in the domain of Automotive Applications at FITSA Foundation. He is invited member of several International Societies and Technical Committees, such as the ITS Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, the IEEE ITS Society, and ITS-Spain. He is European Commission Representative of the University of Alcala in the ICT area of the VII Marco Programme. He is author of more than 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings, and recipient of 10 Research Awards. He has participated as invited member of the International Program Committee or member of the Technical Committee at several International Conferences. He is member of the Editorial Board of the Open Journal of Transportation and serves as usual reviewer for several prestigious international journals concerning Computer Vision and Intelligent Transportation Systems.