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In addition to the low and high beam functions, some modern headlamps also have the option of switching on only section of the high beam. The so-called adaptive high beam is intended to increase the detection distance of objects and through that drastically improve the road safety. At the same time, this function does not increase the glare for oncoming or preceding traffic. This is enabled through switching the different segments of the high beam on or off, depending on which and where other road users are recognized by the front camera. This massively increases the use of the high beam, thus increasing road safety. In this study, the increase in the detection distance of objects on a straight line is statically investigated with a test person study. Furthermore, the glare of each of these three light functions is observed.

This paper covers research findings on digital projections on the road. Data is provided for the root cause analysis of non-existing distraction proven by several studies. The study describes if and in which geometrical space road projections are visible to other road traffic participants. Such participants can be e.g. oncoming, passing drivers or pedestrians standing aside the road. The paper data shows where projections are recognizable and assignable to the original intention of the projection. A grid was created to identify the areas where digital projections could be understood and where the digital projections were just illegible. A dominant factor is the grazing incidence. The photons are distributed over a larger area and only the driver’s view makes a virtual compression of the illuminated area in order to make the signals legible. The results show that distraction for other road participants is unlikely for any position outside very limited areas.

The current development of automotive lighting strives towards more and more lighting installations on vehicles. Additionally, to that, manufacturers start animating these lighting installations as coming home or leaving home greetings from the car to the driver. In a previous paper we have shown, that these additional animations are in fact not distracting to other road users and when used correctly, e.g. in a sequential turn indicator, can be beneficial to the overall traffic safety. This study then aims to investigate the potential influence of illuminated logos on road safety. European lawmakers forbid the use of illuminated advertisements on vehicles to minimize the danger of distraction for other road users and thereby negatively influencing traffic safety. As of now, active illumination of the manufacturer’s logo is considered an advertisement.

Two research fields are presented in this paper covering new lighting functions. In the first part, a study is presented that evaluates distraction by light animations. 41 test subjects were involved, and a situation was constructed with several traffic participants and an animated-light vehicle parked so as to be conspicuously within the test subjects’ view. 91% of the test subjects stated they felt little or no distraction or impairment from the light display on the parked car. 29% noticed something conspicuous about the test vehicle. 22% indicated they had noticed the car’s lights flashing as its central locking system was operating. Only 7%—three of the 41 participants—noticed the animations in addition to their traffic monitoring. Of these, two said they didn’t feel disturbed at all by the animations while the third found it only very slightly distracting. Nobody said the distraction or impairment was “neutral”, “little bit” or “strong”.

New human-machine interfaces are the direct result of digitalization. So also in lighting, new constellations have to be taken into account when looking to the possibilities of giving additional informations to the driver. Lighting and furthermore information given by light is a clear preference during nighttime driving. The global interest in standardization of light driven messages from autonomous vehicles to other traffic participants has opened new research needs in order to prepare full view on such new human-machine interface. In Europe, GTB (Group de Travail de Bruxelles) has established a working group dedicated to this topic. In order to provide a complete picture of the effects of digital light, the question of additional glare contribution by digital informations, i.e. extra projected light in form of patterns, symbols or areas was addressed in this research study. This article will show the investigations on wet and dry road glare while driving with digital informations.

Digitalization in Industry and Society is progressing quickly. Up to now, just 5 static and standard lighting applications have been dominating in the U.S. (Low/High Beam, Daytime Running Lamp Turn Indicator & Position Lamp). The global interest in standardization of light driven messages from autonomous vehicles to other traffic participants has opened new research needs and research findings. In Europe, GTB has established a working group dedicated to this topic. The article will discuss the possible contribution of signalling and lighting functions to Digitalization and Autonomous driving by explaining the first elements of functional definition and research results.

Headlamp performance has changed in the last 20 years significantly. Sealed beam lamps were replaced by VHAD, VOR and VOL types, but still the optical input in terms of tungsten filament based luminous flux remained more stable. With Xenon discharge lamps and now LED the performance of a headlamp may vary strongly and thus the optical performance. Various rating systems have been developed to assess the quality of lamps and light distribution, some based on laboratory based data, some based on static or dynamic street test drives with online measurements and assessments. Basic interest is to understand the performance of the light for a real driver. This article will discuss the influence parameters on achieving a repeatable and precise rating as well as the outer influence that creates glare and varying seeing distance. Mostly mechanical headlamp and car conditioning will influence the result as well as human factors like aiming precision and aiming tolerances.

The first All LED headlamps have arrived in the market, providing all lighting functions with semiconductor based light emitting devices, LED. That was a huge step: the first fully electronic headlamp of the world. Aside from photometry and lifetime advantages, LED offers opportunities in saving CO2-Emissions and thus reducing Energy consumption. 2008 was for the first time a headlamp available where all lighting functions including low and high beam were completely realized with Light Emitting Diodes (LED).

1 In 2008 the first full LED (LED = Light Emitting Diode) headlamp will arrive to the worlds markets, providing all lighting functions with semiconductor based light emitting devices, LED. The first Full LED headlamp differs in style and technology from other headlamps. Target was to find a face that fulfils the demands of the stylists and also gives the possibility to be assembled, to fulfill customer specs and legal requirements. Fulfilling this, the development showed various intermediate steps. As LED is still a evolving technology, mature and fixed technical solutions were and are not always existing. So technical solutions had to be developed under the constraints of new technology and regarding the existing mechanical and electrical environment in the car.

After the first series applications with LED in headlamp signal functions are on the road or close to production release, the next continuous steps are considered in the paper. Side markers and Position lamps, Daytime Running lamps and Turn Indicators are considered to be in a technology ready status. Despite the fact that fog lamps have low luminous flux and photometrical requirements, the challenges due to glare avoidance and aimability via cut off line have reached a new level. Technical concepts and performance will be discussed with measurement data evaluation. Due to the fact that different LED suppliers are on the market with different optical and mechanical solutions, a matrix evaluation will be driven for photometrical and efficiency potential. Another significant impact will be the styling influence of the exit apertures. Studies for LED fog lamps will be presented. Several LED sources require a dedicated electronic driving concept.

The characteristics of the semiconductor based Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) is completely different to the characteristics of traditional light source used in automotive exterior front lighting systems. The characteristics include not only optical items, but also electrical, mechanical and temperature issues. These characteristics make new approaches in the field of automotive headlamp development necessary. Due to the designer's wishes, the LEDs must be mounted on a 3-dimensional surface with small tolerances to the associated optics. High power LEDs create a lot of heat, so that they have to be assembled with a cooling device. The generated heat should be used for defogging and deicing of the outer lens of the headlamp. Electrical drivers are needed to keep the current through the LED constant. All new technical challenges will lead to more stylistic freedom

Adaptive Frontlighting Systems (AFS) generate different lighting patterns according to the environmental situation that is evaluated by electronic control units. Especially the Motorway function will be investigated in the paper. 1 On one side, the photometrical performance will be shown in measurements, e.g photometric data and comparison to the existing driving situations with standard headlamps. 2 The improvements of an AFS motorway function are investigated in visibility/detection distances, reaction distances and braking distance calculation. The results will be presented at the lecture. 3 A new approach will be the evaluation how the improved light performance is accepted by the driver when driving adaptive lighting systems. It can be assumed that the fact that during night time driving the fixation is mostly oriented in front of the car in illuminated areas, the visible change of light performance will lead to clear statements about acceptance among drivers.

Adaptive Lighting systems generate different lighting patterns according to the environmental situation that is evaluated by electronic control units. On one side, the photometrical performance will be shown in measurements, e.g. photometric data and visibility/detection distances, reaction distances and braking distance calculation. A second approach will be the evaluation how the improved light performance is accepted by the driver when driving adaptive lighting systems. It can be assumed that the fact that during night time driving the fixation is mostly oriented in front of the car in illuminated areas, the visible change of light performance will lead to clear statements about acceptance among drivers. For this reason, a questionnaire is currently evaluated in order to find an acceptance rating for the different driving situations. The paper will address both fields of interest and describe the results in terms of traffic safety and comfort acceptance.

This paper will describe the procedures that will enhance the possibilities of qualitative evaluation of headlamp light distributions. A basis will be the description of a light distribution coming only from reflector geometries, i.e. headlamps with clear outer lens design. Further steps of evaluation, as visualization and homogeneity analysis become more and more important for a headlamp evaluation. The recently developed tools can support both the headlamp manufacturer and the car manufacturer in finding a common understanding in headlamp performance of a projected car at a very early stage of development.

The conventional measurements to describe the photometric quality of headlamps usually only comprise the luminous flux and the illuminance (resp. the luminous intensity) in several measuring points given by Type Approval Legislation. Practically, these photometric measurements do not describe the visual impression of a headlamp light distribution sufficiently, neither in lab nor in real street geometry. With the clear outer lens headlamps introduced recently, filament images are projected directly onto the screens or streets, thus giving new impulses to research. Starting from the established photometric practice, other types of measurements and physiological fundamentals will be discussed. The basic tools to make physical measurement and physiological impression comparable, e.g. in terms of homogeneity, are shown.