Handmann, Uwe 
  
done by the object-related analysis. It has to provide the scene interpretation with information. In the scene interpretation 
the partly redundant results have to be interpreted and integrated to achieve consistent information. The behavior relevant 
information has to be presented to behavior planning. The behavior planning unit is the final element that has to evaluate 
which action should be taken to achieve the current task and which subtask has to be completed based on the actual 
information from the scene interpretation and the actual knowledge. It also has to decide whether the current decision 
or advice is reliable and can suggest the driver. The actual behavior planning should induce the scene interpretation to 
produce the optimal amount of information needed. 
    
   
Dynamic Knowledge 
Static Knowledge 
Figure 1: Architecture for a driver assistance system. 
In the following sections, the object-related analysis, the knowledge base, the scene interpretation, and behavior planning 
are discussed in detail. As an example, an Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) is embedded in the given architecture. The 
ICC has to guide the driver according to a chosen object. This comprises advice for velocity adaptation so as to keep 
a secure distance, for changing lanes and for choosing a new leading object, if the previous one is lost. In the shown 
example the only sensor applied is a visual sensor being mounted on the rear view mirror of the observing vehicle. Other 
sensors, like radar, could be integrated easily, as shown by (Handmann et al., 1998c). 
3 OBJECT RELATED ANALYSIS 
The object-related analysis can be subdivided into a sensor information processing and a representational part. The 
structure is shown in fig. 2. The sensor information processing is specialized for each sensor. In a preprocessing step, 
the sensor input is analyzed and relevant features for the sensor information processing are extracted. The representation 
performs the consistent integration of the processed sensor data in sensor coordinates over time. 
  
  
.. Sensor Information Preprocessing 
Object Related Analysis 
Figure 2: Structure of the object-related analysis. 
3.1 Sensor Information Processing 
In the sensor information processing part, the collected sensor data are preprocessed. Texture-, contour- and flow-field- 
analysis are realized which was proposed by (Handmann et al., 1998b). Relevant features for the sensor information 
processing (e.g., segmentation, classification of Regions Of Interest (ROT) or lane detection) are extracted and interpreted 
  
348 International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B5. Amsterdam 2000.