<b>Blinking Detection for Obstruction Warning Signal using Front Camera</b>

Abstract

When a something occurs that could hinder a train passing a level crossing, obstruction warning signals are turned on to show that trains must stop. At present, this system relies on the driver's visual observation. This research aims to make this system more reliable and secure. This paper proposes a method to detect blinking obstruction warning signals and describes evaluation tests that were performed. Evaluation test results showed that these blinking signals could be detected with a detection rate of about 90 percent at a distance 600 meters under running conditions.

<b>Trend on Research and Development Relating to Information and Communication Technology in Railway Fields</b>

“…To date, it was possible to determine the presence and type of an object by embedding image processing technology and algorithms specialized for the characteristics of the object, but the use of AI has significantly improved this performance. Figure 2 shows an example of AI being used in a system that extracts registered equipment from images taken from a driver's train and classifies them by type [9]. The orange frame indicates that it has been extracted as registered equipment, and the numbers above it indicate the type of equipment and the likelihood of recognition.…”

“…In an application that detects the blinking of an obstruction warning signal, a blinking pattern (bit string) is obtained by binarizing each frame of the moving image to 1 or 0 (lit or unlit) by threshold processing, and superimposing the continuous video frames. The blinking of the obstruction warning signal is detected by searching for the bit string that represents the frequency of the obstruction warning signal from the superimposed image [13].…”

<b>Trends in Research and Development Activities Related to Railway Signalling and Telecommunication Systems</b>

“…We have engaged in development such as that of a system that detects the blinking of an obstruction warning signal using the image of a camera in front of the train [7]; a system that uses cameras on the side of the vehicle in order to notify drivers of approaching people in real-time [8]; and a management support system for signaling equipment using handy camera images in front of the train [9]. Additionally, although still in the research stage, we are also working on a method to detect obstacles in front of trains through the fusion of sensors from a camera and LiDAR [10].…”

<b>Trend on Research and Development Activities Relating to Signalling and Telecommunication Systems in Railway Fields</b>

“…We have developed the emission detection method of the flashing obstruction warning signal using an on-board camera so that safety can be further improved by supporting this visual recognition by the driver (Fig. 3) [5].…”