How to Choose the Right Camera for Automotive Applications

Cameras act as the eyes of modern automotive applications. These include Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), autonomous agriculture vehicles, intelligent surveillance systems, etc. The cameras help capture and interpret real-time visual data so that automotive applications can enhance safety, accuracy, and convenience. It means the applications can execute key tasks such as monitoring the vehicle’s surroundings, detecting obstacles, reading road signs, and assisting with lane keeping, parking, and more.

Their performance depends on the ability to perform reliably in a wide range of demanding conditions, from bright sunlight to low-light environments and through various weather patterns. However, these are just some of the challenges faced by such cameras.

In this blog, you’ll learn about five key imaging features that automotive applications need the most so that you can select the right camera.

Types of Automotive Cameras and Their Use Cases

The advantage of cutting-edge cameras in automotive applications goes beyond basic visibility. For instance, they improve situational awareness by offering real-time visual feedback from different angles, enabling maneuvers like parking and lane changes. These cameras capture high-resolution data that improves decision-making for detecting road hazards, tracking the vehicle’s position, and more. They also play an important role in monitoring driver behavior and vehicle performance, ensuring a higher level of safety and control under various conditions. Let’s look at two major use cases:

Surround view systems

Surround view systems use multiple cameras positioned around the vehicle to provide a 360-degree perspective. This helps drivers navigate tight spaces, park accurately, and identify nearby obstacles, reducing the likelihood of collisions. The system integrates images from cameras on all sides and creates a seamless visual representation of the vehicle’s surroundings.

Blind spot monitoring

Blind spot monitoring addresses some of the most challenging aspects of driving—detecting vehicles or objects in areas that are not visible in traditional mirrors. Cameras are typically mounted on the sides of the vehicle and provide live video feeds to alert drivers about vehicles or obstacles in their blind spots. It is useful during lane changes or merging, reducing the risk of accidents caused by unseen vehicles.

Now, let’s see some of the types of automotive cameras:

Rear cameras

Rear cameras help drivers when reversing by providing a clear view of what’s behind the vehicle. They assist in preventing collisions with obstacles or pedestrians and are particularly helpful in tight parking spaces.

Front-facing cameras

Front-facing cameras capture the road ahead, assisting with tasks such as detecting objects, identifying road signs, and enhancing overall driving awareness. They help drivers maintain proper lane position and avoid potential collisions with other vehicles or road hazards.

Driver monitoring cameras

Driver monitoring cameras are designed to observe the driver’s behavior and monitor signs of distraction, fatigue, or drowsiness. They help enhance road safety by alerting the drivers if they become inattentive, ensuring a safer driving experience.

Key Camera Features of Automotive Applications

Low-light performance (night-time, tunnels or enclosed spaces)

Cameras in automotive applications often struggle in low-light environments such as night driving, tunnels, or parking garages. These conditions can lead to underexposed images and flare-related issues, making it difficult for the camera to detect and recognize objects.

Ensuring the highest low-light image quality in automotive cameras involves optimizing key features. Some of these include managing noise levels, adjusting white balance, correcting chromatic aberrations, and mitigating flickers. To reduce flare in automotive cameras, anti-reflective coatings are used on lenses, along with high-quality materials for absorbing unwanted reflections. Minimizing air-glass transitions also reduces the areas where flares can occur.

Proper calibration is also crucial, considering that even the most advanced systems rely on accurate alignment and adjustments. It helps compensate for light fall-off, adjusting for distortion, and ensuring effective color reproduction.

HDR for high contrast scenarios (direct sunlight or bright areas after dark)

Handling extreme contrasts, such as direct sunlight or bright reflections at night, is a huge challenge for automotive cameras. Sudden transitions between light and dark areas can cause cameras to either overexpose or underexpose parts of the image, reducing visibility.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a critical camera feature for automotive applications. Sensor pixels with differing sensitivity levels can be used before being combined to produce a single pixel. The camera captures two exposures simultaneously and merges them into one image. As a result, the application can handle high-contrast scenes and provide a clear representation of different light conditions.

Furthermore, advanced image processing algorithms can help balance exposure across different parts of an image. These algorithms help maintain detail in both the brightest and darkest regions, ensuring that important information is preserved despite extreme contrasts.

Longer transmission cables, such as GMSL

The challenge of limited cable length in automotive cameras impacts the transmission of high-speed data from cameras to processing units, especially in larger vehicles that require extensive coverage. Traditional options like MIPI are inadequate for long-distance data transmission, resulting in signal degradation and reduced performance.

To address these issues, the demand for longer transmission cables like GMSL is rising. They offer extended reach of up to 15 meters while maintaining high-speed and reliable data transfer, which are critical needs of modern automotive systems.

Compliance with IP69K standards and other automotive industry standards

Difficult conditions like rain, fog, snow, and more can severely impact the performance of automotive cameras. Such elements can obscure the camera’s view, making it difficult to detect objects and road markings. Furthermore, automotive cameras are also expected to meet several other automotive industry standards to ensure effective performance in all conditions.

Hence, the cameras must meet automotive and IP69K standards so that they can withstand the toughest environments. Specialized coatings and lens designs that repel water can also reduce the impact of fog on image quality. The cameras must also meet other automotive standards and environmental regulations like AUTOSAR, ASPICE, RoHS 3, REACH, and AEC-Q100 Grade 2.

Functional safety measures

In addition to the above regulations, automotive cameras must be compliant with functional safety standards. It includes ISO 26262 compliance for enabling the functional safety of electronic systems and averting inaccurate responses or operational failures. The cameras must also be equipped with ASIL-B (~SIL2)-compliant functional safety mechanisms – with signal chain error monitoring, diagnostics, and reporting.

Adherence to these regulations ensures safe operations at the edge – leading to reduced failure risks, preventive equipment maintenance, accident prevention, and enhanced safety of humans and machines.

ML-based algorithms for object recognition

The complexity of real-world driving scenes presents a huge challenge for automotive cameras. Scenes often contain multiple objects, varying lighting conditions, and dynamic elements, making it difficult for cameras to identify and track important features accurately.

ML-based algorithms can be integrated into camera systems, enabling them to better interpret and adapt to complex environments. For instance, object recognition algorithms equip the cameras to prioritize relevant objects, such as pedestrians and vehicles, while filtering out irrelevant details. Ultimately, it leads to improved safety and performance in automotive applications.

Cameras Offered by e-con Systems for Automotive Applications

Since 2003, e-con Systems has been an embedded vision pioneer – designing, developing, and manufacturing OEM cameras for various use cases, including automotive applications.

We offer a cutting-edge range of custom cameras that come equipped with features like GMSL2 interface, HDR (up to 150dB), LED Flicker Mitigation (LFM), and multi-camera frame synchronization (up to eight units). They are also built for durability, meeting automotive standards and environmental regulations like RoHS 3, REACH, AEC-Q100 Grade 2, and IP69K.

Please use our Camera Selector to explore our vast portfolio.

You can also write to camerasolutions@e-consystems.com to get started in integrating the best-fit camera into your automotive application.