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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.

Adaptive Lighting Systems approach the market by showing additional value to the customer. Different possibilities are discussed like additional modules that are switched on, light sources with power controlled luminous output (‘“dimming”) or modules which are enabled to swivel parts of the light distribution or swiveling the full light distribution itself. The result can be measured in photometric parameters as luminous flux, candelas or lux or as well in geometrical parameters as range, sidespread, covered area etc. This paper will add to the usual photometric discussion of the new technologies another aspect: The way a standard driver experiences and accepts the new and rather unused technology of adaptive lighting systems.

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.

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.

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.

High intensity discharge lights (HID) are the innovation step that is now beginning to penetrate in all car classes. Investigating drivers, all results show that the benefits are visible to them and positively accepted. The quantification of the improvements has yet been insufficiently examined. In this article some of the aspects will be highlighted.

This paper will present a new method to describe headlamp light distributions by taking into account visible performance, measurable lighting parameters and physiological comfort aspects. Up to now, headlamp light distributions have been evaluated by looking to photometric measurements, which are displayed as isolux or isocandela values. Based on investigations intended to examine the driver's basic requirements for a good light distribution, the resulting measurement tools are split into two sections to describe the performance: Safety and Comfort. For both sections, the tools are described and demonstrated with two light distributions that show different behaviour. The Safety evaluation tools are defined and presented. For the Comfort of driving, the light distribution generated on the street concerning luminance, contrast sensitivity and homogeneity are further parameters. A new possibility of defining a single quality parameter for the homogeneity is given.

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.