IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO VEHICLE OCCUPANT DETECTORS

摘要

In the field of vehicle occupant detectors there is a need for an improved vehicle occupant detector which is able to consistently identify the number of occupants in vehicles having windscreens with different infrared transmission characteristics. A vehicle occupant detector (10) comprises a first infrared illuminator (12) that is operable at a first infrared wavelength to illuminate an interior of a vehicle, and a second infrared illuminator (14) that is operable at a second infrared wavelength to illuminate an interior of a vehicle. The vehicle occupant detector (10) also includes a first infrared detector (16) to capture a first image (20) of the interior of the vehicle illuminated at the first infrared wavelength, and a second infrared detector (18) to capture a second image (22) of the interior of the vehicle illuminated at the second infrared wavelength. The first and second infrared detectors (16, 18) have the same infrared detection characteristics.