This paper provides a summary of the various computer program libraries developed to date for use in the Highway Illumination Mapping and Optical Detection Evaluation Program undertaken at the National Research Council. The problem of night visibility with automobile headlighting was considered from the point of view of a complex system containing many interdependent and highly interactive variables. During the course of the headlamp investigations, a variety of computer programs were written to perform a number of distinct and highly complex tasks. Due to their enormous size, the programs pertaining to each different task--such as intensity mapping, transformation of the map, illuminance mapping, target detection, etc.--were compiled into separate program libraries. The various mapping and analysis functions for which the computer programs were developed are first outlined; then the individual program libraries which perform these functions are described briefly; finally, the use of the libraries in sequence, in order to accomplish an illuminance mapping or target detection task via the computer, is demonstrated.
Abstract