Autonomous driving and the importance of the right light
City center, a busy street. A pedestrian wants to cross the road, and tries to make eye contact with the driver. But there’s no one behind the wheel. The passengers are sitting comfortably in the back seat. Nevertheless, the communication works. The fully automated vehicle recognizes the pedestrian, brakes independently, and projects a virtual crosswalk on the asphalt. That means the person can cross the lit street safely, after which the vehicle can go on its way.
Autonomous driving isn’t here yet, but the ZKW Group is already designing the instruments we’ll need to provide it. Visionary developers are already meeting the challenges of future headlight manufacturers today.
After all, even self-driving vehicles need the right light. Central topics include: Visibility for other road users and communication with the environment, in particular with pedestrians.
Light as a language between human and machine
A virtual crosswalk is just one of many potential applications. Others include indicating an intention to turn by projecting illuminated arrows on the street. Similar solutions can warn of opening doors, fast braking procedures, or indicate the car is backing up. This is how digital vehicles can communicate with analog pedestrians.
To find their own way, “robotic vehicles” won’t actually need streets to be lit up. Nevertheless, they still need to bring light into the darkness. After all, other road users definitely still need the autonomous cars to have the right kind of light. Headlights will brighten up the vehicle’s surroundings, reacting to different weather and lighting conditions.
The right lighting to make sure people see and understand cars – and to make the traffic of the future accident-free.
The role of light will be fundamentally different for self-driving vehicles than it is today: Vehicles no longer need to light up the street to provide good visibility. Instead, light will serve much more as communication with non-autonomous vehicles.
ZKW Group
How smart ZKW lights already are today
Pedestrians are hit four times more often at night as they are during the day.
Targeted lighting with marking lights by ZKW can prevent these accidents. Here’s how it works: A night vision system maps all moving objects in the field of view, even if the headlights haven’t hit them yet: Pedestrians, deer, etc. A clever image processing system determines the potential danger they pose. Then swiveling projection lenses are targeted towards the hazards, while modern LED lenses generate a sharp and limited beam of light to individually mark the object. This guides the driver’s vision to the hazard early on, instead of leaving it in the dark. That provides valuable extra reaction time to help avoid a collision.
Further contents
The future of light
Vehicle lights by ZKW are the product of burgeoning innovation in an exciting design.
Great electronics
The reasons we need vehicle lights go far beyond simple lighting. ZKW is developing powerful background helpers so that modern headlights can bring their diverse functions to the streets in the best light possible: Highly precise electronics that make innovative lighting technology possible. After all, powerful lighting takes smart control.
High beams with no glare
Most traffic accidents occur at night. The right lighting is what counts. Low beams aren’t enough, but high beams can blind oncoming cars, or drivers up ahead. The lux is the crux. Our solution: Glare-free high beams by the ZKW Group provide perspective and make driving in the dark more safe – thanks to smarter technology.
A dazzling innovation
Just a few thousandths of a millimeter in size, but an absolute innovation in vehicle lighting: Laser lights. They allow not only for new headlight designs, but also make street traffic safer.