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A nighttime pedestrian recognition assistance system that is expected to help reduce nighttime pedestrian accidents has been developed. This system is fitted with far-infrared stereo cameras that can make an image of what is ahead, even when it is dark. The system displays the image on a heads-up display directly in front of the driver. At the same time, through the use of image processing, pedestrians crossing the road ahead, as well as those on the side of the road are detected, and the driver is informed of their presence, with a warning sound and via framed highlight of the pedestrian in the display image. This system's pedestrian detection algorithm is based on stereoscopic distance data. The system identifies pedestrians through their position and movement as well as size and shape. Results of evaluations on suburban and city roads show good detection performance.

Combustion behavior in Rotary Engine (RE) is quite different from that in conventional reciprocating engines. Therefore, it is important to observe the combustion in RE. In the previous studies, an optical RE was developed, which enabled the observation of the flame propagation in the rotor rotating direction (side view). In the present study, modification was made to the optical RE so that the observation of the flame propagation in the rotor width direction (bottom view) became possible. By using two high-speed cameras, the combustion in RE was observed by bottom view and side view simultaneously. Consequently, it was found that the flame propagation in the rotor width direction is also important for better engine performance as well as that in the rotor rotating direction.