Top 10 automotive lighting innovations in the world
2022-12-19
In February, Philips unveiled its new perpetual daylight LED headlights.
The product is located in SAFEBEAM safety light technology, whose spectrum conforms to the CIE definition of ECE R128. It can accurately project lights while driving, but also emit bright white light of 5800K, providing up to 250% brightness on the road, providing safe lighting for drivers without causing glare to other pedestrians and passengers. Reduce the risk of eye strain for traffic participants, and bring clearer, safer and more appropriate visual perception to drivers and pedestrians.
It also features a "breakthrough fit" mounting design for most models and a built-in drive box that eliminates the need to worry about headlamp unit space constraints. Compatible with 12V and 24V electrical systems, the integrated electronics (drivers and adapters) work directly with the vehicle's electronic systems to provide a consistent beam and color temperature without the need for additional adapters.
In addition, the product is compatible with a wide range of reflectors and projector headlamps, ensuring a safe and perfectly aligned beam.
Two, dual-use flexible LED headlights
In February, South Korea's Hyundai Motor announced it had developed a flexible LED headlight called the HLED.
The H in HLED stands for high performance, high definition, and high consistency. The product can be bent like a film and is only 5.5mm thick. It can act as a control taillight and brake light thanks to its low heat and energy saving LED chip inside.
With its bend-able properties, the product is also capable of shining bright, even light in five different directions simultaneously, enhancing the driver's visibility. At the same time, automobile manufacturers can also design a complex and unique shape according to this feature, to achieve vivid lighting animation effect.
Three, pure electric SUV lighting solutions
In September last year, Volkswagen announced the lighting information of ID.4 on its official website. The new model offers a lighting solution for the first pure electric SUV with matrix LED, headlights to greet before starting, and 3D LED taillights.
IQ.Light, an optional part of the solution, consists of 11 LED lighting modules, each of which can be individually adjusted or turned off, allowing intelligent control for continuous high beam lighting. In addition, the modules are very similar to the human eye, with a flat halo around the Volkswagen LOGO and ID, allowing traffic participants on the road to see important information about vehicles at night.
It is worth mentioning that whenever the driver approaches the vehicle with the key, the lights will electrically rotate from the bottom up to create a "look up to meet" visual effect. The lighting module can also "open the eyes" and then rotate sideways to give the impression that the vehicle is seeking eye contact with the driver.
Iv. New ultra-high brightness LED for vehicles
In October last year, Seoul Semiconductor announced that it has developed a groundbreaking new generation of WICOP UHL(Ultra High Luminance) LED series.
The heat dissipation performance of the product is 40% higher than that of other similar products in the current LED market. When applied to automotive headlights, the weight of the heat dissipation structure can be reduced by 75%, thus reducing the power consumption by 20% compared with other similar products; On the other hand, the product of the light-emitting area of only 0.5 ㎟, suitable for slim design, LED technology used in the its completely offset by reducing light emitting area and LED to the decrease of the heat dissipation performance shortcomings, at the same time satisfy the performance of all kinds of needs.
The same brightness reduces the heat dissipation weight by 75%(left)
Mini LED patent structure (right)
The new product is made using Seoul Semiconductor's patented unpackaged LED Technology, which is the first of its kind in the world. Surface Mounted Technology (SMT) can be easily mounted in the conventional substrate bonding process layer to form the same strong structure as Mini LED. Make it fully show good optical performance in automotive lighting applications
Five, automotive environmental lighting LED
In December, Osram launched its Ostune LED range for automotive environmental lighting, including two featured products, Ostune E1608 and E3030.
Ostune E3030
The Ostune E1608 and E3030 products cover a wide range of color temperatures, enabling Oems to offer unique variations of ambient lighting: from elegant cold blue white light to comfortable warm red white light. The color rendering index (CRI) of this series of leds exceeds 90, which is a high level in the current automotive application field.
Not only are they capable of delivering a wide color temperature range from 2700K to 6500K, providing excellent color rendering in vehicle interiors, but they also come in exceptionally compact sizes -- 1.6mm x 0.8mm x 0.6mm (E1608) and 3.0mm x 3.0mm x 0.65mm (E3030). Applied to different types of automotive interior atmosphere lighting products.
Image credit: OSram Optoelectronic Semiconductor
In addition, the two products offer alternatives that transcend traditional technology and save energy and space, providing drivers with an in-car living space from comfortable in-car lighting and reading lights to mirrors and footspace lighting, enabling a functional transformation of the interior environment of the car from a cockpit to a mobile living space.
Vi. Vehicle embedded light sensor and intelligent lighting system
In March, Apple was granted two new automotive patents through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an embedded light sensor for autonomous navigation systems and an adjustable lighting system and method based on occupant and object recognition.
Patent diagram of embedded optical sensor
The embedded light sensor interacts with the external environment through the public window elements in the vehicle, and provides light emission and environmental monitoring at the same time to achieve the ultimate goal of autonomous vehicle navigation.
Patent drawing of adjustable lighting system
The adjustable lighting system can automatically illuminate each area of the car according to the need, and use the camera and sensor to determine where to turn on the lights. It can decide the object, position and area to illuminate by itself. At the same time, through several different operation modes, it can respond to the clear lighting request or instruction, or it can expect the unclear lighting request or instruction. Automatically and dynamically increase and/or decrease lighting at locations associated with occupants, objects or areas to minimize disturbance to occupants.
7. Pixel series LED headlights
Last December, the Swedish pioneer pure electric high-performance coupe Polestar 2 equipped with the market advanced Pixel dot matrix LED lighting technology, bringing a new series of headlights to the high-end electric vehicle segment.
Pixel dot array LED headlights
Among them, Pixel dot matrix LED headlights are equipped with active headlight technology and sequential welcome lights, which will activate the welcome sequence light effect when the vehicle is unlocked. Each headlamp has 84 LED light sources, arranged in a matrix, which allows precise control of the light source at each point. During driving, when a vehicle in front or opposite direction is detected, some LED lights will be turned off dynamically to avoid causing interference to other vehicles. Up to five vehicles can be identified. Even with the high beams on all the time, the feature allows drivers to get the best view of the road ahead and avoid annoying other road users without having to switch between high and low light modes.
Front fog lights with automatic steering assist
Front fog lights with automatic steering assist use energy-saving LED technology and can be automatically activated at low speeds based on steering or turn signals, further optimizing driving vision and driving experience.
Through-through taillights
There are 288 LED light sources embedded in the through-type taillight, which has its own sequential lighting effect, showing the unique welcoming and sending light effect. At the same time, through the adaptive lighting technology, the brightness will be enhanced in the daytime, so as to ensure the best visibility of the light source; At night, it darkens automatically to prevent interference with the driver's vision.
Eight, digital matrix LED headlights
Last October, German carmaker Audi unveiled digital matrix LED headlights equipped with images that can be projected.
Digital matrix LED headlamp application effect
The product consists of 1.3 million micromirrors, each of which emits tiny and uniquely adaptable particles of light that project an image when the car is stopped or moving. In addition, the product can provide vehicles with a 50 meter long "light blanket", when the headlights are turned on, 50 meters ahead of the lane is illuminated. The main purpose of this design is to prevent the driver or pedestrian of the opposite vehicle from being momentarily blinded.
In addition, the "near light bending illumination" can help drivers detect other objects or pedestrians on the side of the road.
Nine, laser headlamp
Last October, German luxury carmaker BMW put its innovative LaserLight laser headlamp and related technology on the market.
Despite its name, LaserLight passes three monochromatic blue laser beams through a series of mirrors in the main housing, and finally through a filter filled with yellow phosphorus. The blue laser reacts with the yellow phosphorus to produce a bright conical white beam pointing directly at the road. Through this technology, the product produces lights that are ten times brighter than traditional LED headlamps. Since city traffic can be distracting to drivers, the product will only be used at speeds above 60 km/h on city roads to improve safety.
What's more, an integrated infrared camera system, used in conjunction with LaserLight, detects an oncoming vehicle and sends the signal to a control unit, which automatically dims the headlights without manual input from the driver. If the infrared camera system detects an obstacle in the road, LaserLight will focus its beam directly onto the obstacle at a distance of up to 300 feet (92 meters).
At the same time, LaserLight can communicate with the car's GPS navigation system to predict the road turns ahead of time to achieve a follow up steering function.
Ten, full LED front light group
In September last year, Chery revealed the appearance and some details of its new model, the Tiger 8 PLUS, with the full LED front lights being the highlight of the model. The lamp set set LED crystal headlamp, double blade bright day running light, water turn signal in one, with a great sense of design.
The headlights will be matched with AFS headlights follow the steering function, in the night or low light driving, the vehicle turns and turns, the light can realize the maximum deviation of 15 degrees with the car head rotation; It can also realize real-time monitoring through multi-function camera, and realize intelligent switching between near and far light. Both of these functions increase the active safety of the whole vehicle.
Integrated LED front fog light and profiler light, using matrix design. Among them, the front fog lights are integrated with corner lights. When turning at low speed at night, the steering auxiliary lights are automatically lit to make up for the blind area of vision at night, and also improve the driving safety.
In addition, the drill array rear taillight, flow turn signal, high brake light with red LED light belt and other rear light group also echo the front light group, reflecting the light designer of this model in creating the visual experience of the driver and other traffic participants.
Intelligent lighting induction, digital lighting images, virtual lighting visual effects...... The world's most advanced automotive lighting technology has long said goodbye to the static lighting function, fully integrated into the dynamic light and shadow era.
From the overall development situation of the domestic lighting industry and the automotive market and industrial structure, the gap between the national automotive lighting technology and the global advanced level can be summed up in six words: the road is not far!
The product is located in SAFEBEAM safety light technology, whose spectrum conforms to the CIE definition of ECE R128. It can accurately project lights while driving, but also emit bright white light of 5800K, providing up to 250% brightness on the road, providing safe lighting for drivers without causing glare to other pedestrians and passengers. Reduce the risk of eye strain for traffic participants, and bring clearer, safer and more appropriate visual perception to drivers and pedestrians.
It also features a "breakthrough fit" mounting design for most models and a built-in drive box that eliminates the need to worry about headlamp unit space constraints. Compatible with 12V and 24V electrical systems, the integrated electronics (drivers and adapters) work directly with the vehicle's electronic systems to provide a consistent beam and color temperature without the need for additional adapters.
In addition, the product is compatible with a wide range of reflectors and projector headlamps, ensuring a safe and perfectly aligned beam.
Two, dual-use flexible LED headlights
In February, South Korea's Hyundai Motor announced it had developed a flexible LED headlight called the HLED.
The H in HLED stands for high performance, high definition, and high consistency. The product can be bent like a film and is only 5.5mm thick. It can act as a control taillight and brake light thanks to its low heat and energy saving LED chip inside.
With its bend-able properties, the product is also capable of shining bright, even light in five different directions simultaneously, enhancing the driver's visibility. At the same time, automobile manufacturers can also design a complex and unique shape according to this feature, to achieve vivid lighting animation effect.
Three, pure electric SUV lighting solutions
In September last year, Volkswagen announced the lighting information of ID.4 on its official website. The new model offers a lighting solution for the first pure electric SUV with matrix LED, headlights to greet before starting, and 3D LED taillights.
IQ.Light, an optional part of the solution, consists of 11 LED lighting modules, each of which can be individually adjusted or turned off, allowing intelligent control for continuous high beam lighting. In addition, the modules are very similar to the human eye, with a flat halo around the Volkswagen LOGO and ID, allowing traffic participants on the road to see important information about vehicles at night.
It is worth mentioning that whenever the driver approaches the vehicle with the key, the lights will electrically rotate from the bottom up to create a "look up to meet" visual effect. The lighting module can also "open the eyes" and then rotate sideways to give the impression that the vehicle is seeking eye contact with the driver.
Iv. New ultra-high brightness LED for vehicles
In October last year, Seoul Semiconductor announced that it has developed a groundbreaking new generation of WICOP UHL(Ultra High Luminance) LED series.
The heat dissipation performance of the product is 40% higher than that of other similar products in the current LED market. When applied to automotive headlights, the weight of the heat dissipation structure can be reduced by 75%, thus reducing the power consumption by 20% compared with other similar products; On the other hand, the product of the light-emitting area of only 0.5 ㎟, suitable for slim design, LED technology used in the its completely offset by reducing light emitting area and LED to the decrease of the heat dissipation performance shortcomings, at the same time satisfy the performance of all kinds of needs.
The same brightness reduces the heat dissipation weight by 75%(left)
Mini LED patent structure (right)
The new product is made using Seoul Semiconductor's patented unpackaged LED Technology, which is the first of its kind in the world. Surface Mounted Technology (SMT) can be easily mounted in the conventional substrate bonding process layer to form the same strong structure as Mini LED. Make it fully show good optical performance in automotive lighting applications
Five, automotive environmental lighting LED
In December, Osram launched its Ostune LED range for automotive environmental lighting, including two featured products, Ostune E1608 and E3030.
Ostune E3030
The Ostune E1608 and E3030 products cover a wide range of color temperatures, enabling Oems to offer unique variations of ambient lighting: from elegant cold blue white light to comfortable warm red white light. The color rendering index (CRI) of this series of leds exceeds 90, which is a high level in the current automotive application field.
Not only are they capable of delivering a wide color temperature range from 2700K to 6500K, providing excellent color rendering in vehicle interiors, but they also come in exceptionally compact sizes -- 1.6mm x 0.8mm x 0.6mm (E1608) and 3.0mm x 3.0mm x 0.65mm (E3030). Applied to different types of automotive interior atmosphere lighting products.
Image credit: OSram Optoelectronic Semiconductor
In addition, the two products offer alternatives that transcend traditional technology and save energy and space, providing drivers with an in-car living space from comfortable in-car lighting and reading lights to mirrors and footspace lighting, enabling a functional transformation of the interior environment of the car from a cockpit to a mobile living space.
Vi. Vehicle embedded light sensor and intelligent lighting system
In March, Apple was granted two new automotive patents through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an embedded light sensor for autonomous navigation systems and an adjustable lighting system and method based on occupant and object recognition.
Patent diagram of embedded optical sensor
The embedded light sensor interacts with the external environment through the public window elements in the vehicle, and provides light emission and environmental monitoring at the same time to achieve the ultimate goal of autonomous vehicle navigation.
Patent drawing of adjustable lighting system
The adjustable lighting system can automatically illuminate each area of the car according to the need, and use the camera and sensor to determine where to turn on the lights. It can decide the object, position and area to illuminate by itself. At the same time, through several different operation modes, it can respond to the clear lighting request or instruction, or it can expect the unclear lighting request or instruction. Automatically and dynamically increase and/or decrease lighting at locations associated with occupants, objects or areas to minimize disturbance to occupants.
7. Pixel series LED headlights
Last December, the Swedish pioneer pure electric high-performance coupe Polestar 2 equipped with the market advanced Pixel dot matrix LED lighting technology, bringing a new series of headlights to the high-end electric vehicle segment.
Pixel dot array LED headlights
Among them, Pixel dot matrix LED headlights are equipped with active headlight technology and sequential welcome lights, which will activate the welcome sequence light effect when the vehicle is unlocked. Each headlamp has 84 LED light sources, arranged in a matrix, which allows precise control of the light source at each point. During driving, when a vehicle in front or opposite direction is detected, some LED lights will be turned off dynamically to avoid causing interference to other vehicles. Up to five vehicles can be identified. Even with the high beams on all the time, the feature allows drivers to get the best view of the road ahead and avoid annoying other road users without having to switch between high and low light modes.
Front fog lights with automatic steering assist
Front fog lights with automatic steering assist use energy-saving LED technology and can be automatically activated at low speeds based on steering or turn signals, further optimizing driving vision and driving experience.
Through-through taillights
There are 288 LED light sources embedded in the through-type taillight, which has its own sequential lighting effect, showing the unique welcoming and sending light effect. At the same time, through the adaptive lighting technology, the brightness will be enhanced in the daytime, so as to ensure the best visibility of the light source; At night, it darkens automatically to prevent interference with the driver's vision.
Eight, digital matrix LED headlights
Last October, German carmaker Audi unveiled digital matrix LED headlights equipped with images that can be projected.
Digital matrix LED headlamp application effect
The product consists of 1.3 million micromirrors, each of which emits tiny and uniquely adaptable particles of light that project an image when the car is stopped or moving. In addition, the product can provide vehicles with a 50 meter long "light blanket", when the headlights are turned on, 50 meters ahead of the lane is illuminated. The main purpose of this design is to prevent the driver or pedestrian of the opposite vehicle from being momentarily blinded.
In addition, the "near light bending illumination" can help drivers detect other objects or pedestrians on the side of the road.
Nine, laser headlamp
Last October, German luxury carmaker BMW put its innovative LaserLight laser headlamp and related technology on the market.
Despite its name, LaserLight passes three monochromatic blue laser beams through a series of mirrors in the main housing, and finally through a filter filled with yellow phosphorus. The blue laser reacts with the yellow phosphorus to produce a bright conical white beam pointing directly at the road. Through this technology, the product produces lights that are ten times brighter than traditional LED headlamps. Since city traffic can be distracting to drivers, the product will only be used at speeds above 60 km/h on city roads to improve safety.
What's more, an integrated infrared camera system, used in conjunction with LaserLight, detects an oncoming vehicle and sends the signal to a control unit, which automatically dims the headlights without manual input from the driver. If the infrared camera system detects an obstacle in the road, LaserLight will focus its beam directly onto the obstacle at a distance of up to 300 feet (92 meters).
At the same time, LaserLight can communicate with the car's GPS navigation system to predict the road turns ahead of time to achieve a follow up steering function.
Ten, full LED front light group
In September last year, Chery revealed the appearance and some details of its new model, the Tiger 8 PLUS, with the full LED front lights being the highlight of the model. The lamp set set LED crystal headlamp, double blade bright day running light, water turn signal in one, with a great sense of design.
The headlights will be matched with AFS headlights follow the steering function, in the night or low light driving, the vehicle turns and turns, the light can realize the maximum deviation of 15 degrees with the car head rotation; It can also realize real-time monitoring through multi-function camera, and realize intelligent switching between near and far light. Both of these functions increase the active safety of the whole vehicle.
Integrated LED front fog light and profiler light, using matrix design. Among them, the front fog lights are integrated with corner lights. When turning at low speed at night, the steering auxiliary lights are automatically lit to make up for the blind area of vision at night, and also improve the driving safety.
In addition, the drill array rear taillight, flow turn signal, high brake light with red LED light belt and other rear light group also echo the front light group, reflecting the light designer of this model in creating the visual experience of the driver and other traffic participants.
Intelligent lighting induction, digital lighting images, virtual lighting visual effects...... The world's most advanced automotive lighting technology has long said goodbye to the static lighting function, fully integrated into the dynamic light and shadow era.
From the overall development situation of the domestic lighting industry and the automotive market and industrial structure, the gap between the national automotive lighting technology and the global advanced level can be summed up in six words: the road is not far!
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