Use of thermal imaging camera for wild animal detection along roads

Vehicle collisions with wild animals are acommon problem onroads, having asignificant impact onroad safety and wildlife populations. Collisions with wild animals are one ofthe most frequent road accidents. According topolice statistics, there were nearly 16000 road accidents caused bycollisions with animals inthe Czech Republic in 2019. Collisions with deer are the most common. There are several technologies and measures that can help reduce the risk ofavehicle colliding with awild animal. One ofthe technologies used isanight vision system based oninfrared spectrum sensing. This technology isslowly becoming part ofthe equipment of, inparticular, premium car brands dueto its high cost. This paper tested alow-cost solution using acommercially available thermal imaging camera and found asubstantial reduction inthe time todetect wild animals along the road, namely inthe order ofseconds.