Pedestrian Protection Systems (PPSs) are on-board systems aimed at detecting and tracking people in the surroundings of a vehicle in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations. These systems, together with other Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as lane departure warning or adaptive cruise control, are one of the most promising ways to improve traffic safety. By the use of computer vision, cameras working either in the visible or infra-red spectra have been demonstrated as a reliable sensor to perform this task. Nevertheless, the variability of human's appearance, not only in terms of clothing and sizes but also as a result of their dynamic shape, makes pedestrians one of the most complex classes even for computer vision. Moreover, the unstructured changing and unpredictable environment in which such on-board systems must work makes detection a difficult task to be carried out with the demanded robustness. In this brief, the state of the art in PPSs is introduced through the review of the most relevant papers of the last decade. A common computational architecture is presented as a framework to organize each method according to its main contribution. More than 300 papers are referenced, most of them addressing pedestrian detection and others corresponding to the descriptors (features), pedestrian models, and learning machines used. In addition, an overview of topics such as real-time aspects, systems benchmarking and future challenges of this research area are presented.

This book presents a collection of exercises on dynamical systems, modelling and control. Each topic covered includes a summary of the theoretical background, problems with solutions, and further exercises. Topics covered include: block diagram algebra and system transfer functions; mathematical models; analysis of continuous systems in the time domain; root locus analysis; frequency domain analysis; PID controller synthesis; state space analysis of continuous systems; controller synthesis by pole placement; discrete time systems and the Z transform; analysis of non-linear systems with the describing function method; analysis of nonlinear systems with the phase plane method; and fractional order systems and controllers. Based on tried-and-tested problems and solutions that the authors use in teaching over 500 students each year, this book is essential reading for advanced students with courses in modelling and control in engineering, applied mathematics, biomathematics and physics.