Search Results

First LED headlamps will be released into the market in 2007. Special permissions allow this introduction although the official regulation is still under discussion in ECE. The LED technology for front lighting has entered into a new phase from theoretical, prototype status to real and practical applications. Additionally in Europe the legislation, which is under preparation, defines LED modules with one or more LED chips in a row which should be replaceable. With this boundary conditions headlamp suppliers needs to balance between an attractive and innovative styling, demanded by car manufacturers and the light performance to gurantee good visibility at night. The paper describes the methods how to design an LED headlamp with high efficiency by keeping in mind the parameters: packaging, weight, styling and light perfromance. Results with specific design proposals are shown.

Anti-fog coatings are employed for preventing malfunction and/or cosmetic defects due to visible condensation. The paper outlines the progress achieved by applying nanotechnology in combination with sol-gel chemistry and series production technologies such as spray coating. The paper summarizes the automotive mass production experiences in coating mineral glass as well as transparent polymers such as polycarbonate and PMMA with respect to design, quality and environmental considerations as water borne systems have been successfully implemented.

Adaptive driving beam (ADB), which was first homologated in the ECE world (ECE 123) in 2012 has changed the automotive Front Lighting philosophy completely. Whereas we currently live with separate low beam and high beam features, also used in a combined way, we will have in the future a camera driven light distribution, which is a kind of modified high beam light pattern. ADB is a camera based lighting system, which enables the driver to achieve at night nearly high beam visibility without glaring oncoming or proceeding vehicles and road users. Once the presence of other vehicles is detected the headlamps change the light pattern and block the light where the oncoming or proceeding vehicles are located. The typical low beam light distribution with given and specified cutoff line will only be used in small speed areas. In US this development was well recognized and NHTSA is preparing a way to enable and approve the ADB systems with specific boundary conditions also for the US market.

In the last years we recognize a big amount of innovative solutions in the field of automotive lighting and especially in front lighting systems. The major target to improve the light performance and to make driving at night safe is most important. The measure for the performance rating and the ability to compare different systems with a technology neutral process seems to be quite difficult. The legislation is looking for a simplification with clearly defined parameters for the future. Experimental test series recently published causing a lot of discussions as the sensitivity of the aiming of the headlamps can cause completely different performance test results. The paper will report on a study with various production vehicles, all in the same way initially aimed and prepared for all type of technologies.