PH Origins: Night vision
Want to show drivers what lies beyond the reach of their headlights at night? Time to break out some military-sourced equipment...
It was also facing increasing competition from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Lexus. Cadillac, at a vast rate of knots, was in danger of becoming an also-ran in its home country.
In order to restore some glamour to its brand, the company rolled out a new 'art and science' strategy in late 1999. 'Art' defined Cadillac's sharp new design language, while 'science' predictably represented the ways in which the company would showcase its engineering capabilities.
On the 'science' front, Cadillac had several options. For example, it had reputedly been studying ways to improve the safety of night-time driving since 1984. Because safety was becoming an increasingly important consideration among buyers, a flagship technology would be of great benefit.
Three types were available at the time. The first was the straightforward image intensifier; this would capture even the dimmest incoming light and output it on frequencies visible to the human eye, granting an 'intensified' view of the scene ahead. Improvements could be achieved by adding an infrared light, not visible to the human eye, which would deliver a far clearer, sharper view - a set-up called 'active illumination'.
Both could struggle when faced with bright light sources, such as oncoming headlights, making them less suitable for automotive use at the time. The third type, thermal imaging, appeared more suitable. The cameras, which measure the difference in temperature between objects by capturing thermal radiation, couldn't be dazzled and didn't deteriorate in rain or fog.
None were new technologies, at this point, mind. Hungarian physicist and inventor Kalman Tihanyi had developed the first infrared-sensitive camera in 1929, in order to allow anti-aircraft gunners a better chance of spotting targets at night. The Germans later outfitted limited numbers of Panther tanks, anti-tank guns and infantry weapons with active infrared illumination in the mid-1940s. For example, the 7.92mm 'StG 44' assault rifle was offered with a night vision scope dubbed 'Vampir'.
The American Department of Defence, frustrated by the warm-up time of cooled infrared systems, had started throwing money at the problem in the 1980s. After all, a system that could let a tank's gunner see at night wasn't much good if, in those few critical moments, the tank had already been engaged and knocked out.
Subsequently, Texas Instruments' Defence Systems and Electronics division - which produced electro-optical systems, missiles and more - found itself on the receiving end of a large DoD contract, the aim of which was to develop sensors with reduced warm-up times. The company's efforts led to the development of uncooled detectors, which operated in a wide range of conditions. Besides being far less expensive, they were also smaller.
By 1992 the uncooled thermal imaging cameras had been declassified and efforts had begun to market them to other businesses. Texas Instruments, it transpired, had been attempting to develop an automotive night vision system for eight years by that point. With the new uncooled detectors to hand, a commercial system was suddenly viable.
Around this time, however, US military electronics specialist Raytheon was looking to strengthen its position in the defence market - and Texas Instruments was losing interest in its military division, as competition was strong and profits were falling. A little consolidation would help its core business survive so, in 1997, it sold its defence systems unit to Raytheon - along with everything relating to the NightSight.
Cadillac's parent company, General Motors, also sold its electronic defence arm - Hughes Electronics, which had also researched automotive night vision - to Raytheon in the same year. GM was aware of the NightSight and, now that the two companies had established a relationship, it made sense for it to take advantage of what was now Raytheon technology. The new Cadillac Deville was due in late 1999 and the NightSight would help the flagship saloon fulfil the 'science' part of the brand's new strategy.
The resulting product, simply called 'Night Vision' by Cadillac, used an uncooled thermal imaging camera mounted in the grille. The image was relayed to the driver via a Delphi-Delco Electronics-developed head-up display, making it easier for drivers to see hazards ahead. At launch, it cost $2,000.
The system was later rolled out in the Hummer H1 and H2. Toyota then ventured into the night vision game in 2002, introducing an active infrared intensification night vision system called 'Night View' in the Lexus LX470 and Landcruiser. Mercedes-Benz wasn't far behind, releasing a similar system in the 2005 W221-generation S-Class.
While Cadillac's night vision set-up initially proved popular, however, cost and image quality issues led the company to withdraw it in 2005. It undoubtedly had benefits compared to image intensification systems but the image quality wasn't as good and in warm conditions its capabilities lessened considerably. It wasn't until 2015, with the launch of the flagship CT6, that the technology had developed enough to warrant its reintroduction.
In fairness I've never tried it, but driving down the M1 on Wednesday I was confronted by fog AND falling snow, a pretty rare combination in my experience. I found myself looking as far ahead as I could for about 5 solid minutes until through the fog, ignoring all else around me including rear view mirror and instruments.
Presenting it in a HUD makes more sense, a la the original Cadillac system, to me. Alas, Cadillac's put it back in the instrument cluster (like Mercedes) in the CT6. That said, you do get a warning in the head-up display if it thinks there's something the night vision gear has picked up that you need to pay attention to, which is a saving grace.
(And thank you for the comment!
)Moot point, in fairness, as I’m never likely to own a Cadillac!
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One side fact. GM was charging $2,000 for the units but was selling them below cost to get the price down that far with the camera alone costing more than that. Cadillac was counting on the buzz of the technology being worth it as they expected few people to order that expensive an option.
A local high tech startup who used the same Raytheon FLIR camera found it was cheaper to contact people interested in the Cadillac DTS and have them order the option than to buy the cameras new. They'd pay the owner $3,000 for the camera, remove it and pay to have the grille replaced with the standard replacement part that had the Cadillac logo where the camera aperture had been. Everyone but GM made a profit.
The display would be speed, tacho, gear etc and, at night, the option to merge a Thermal image with a video image to give a clearer view of the road at greater distances.
All this is in the very early stages with nothing expected for 5+ years at least but the tech is there already, it just needs "civilian-ising" to make it acceptable to wear/use, rather than a bulky pilots helmet
Moot point, in fairness, as I’m never likely to own a Cadillac!
One time the dynamic light spot highlighted a deer on the side of the road, as I was just going around a corner, it was very helpful. Audi and Mercedes do it in a similarly with the full beam, albeit not as focused.
Additionally you get a notification sound and symbol in the HUD, it is enough to just glance at the camera image because the object is highlighted.
It will also only detect animals from a certain size, foxes have never been detected in my experience, but boars and deer always. One time a boar has been detected behind a bush, which was very impressive.
It is a good safety feature, but an excellent LED full beam assist is probably a better investment to pick on the options list.
It's particularly interesting to learn how it all began. Too large and too costly. Everybody on the team knows that the system will be much improved in 20 years' time, and that they're working on something that is at once pioneering and, in a sense, Neanderthal.
The range and the all-weather capabilities are very impressive. A sort of magic, really.
There's a side-by-side comparison (with / without thermal imaging) at this video, here. The difference is simply ridiculous!
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