July 2001
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July 2001 |
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Gentex
Announces New Intelligent High-Beam Headlamp Control Technology The miniature camera technology of SmartBeam™ will detect approaching vehicles and adjust its host vehicle's high beams accordingly -- thus promising to vanquish that familiar threat to drivers’ forward vision. |
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Lincoln Mercury is already developing plans to adopt the technology and launch SmartBeam on Lincoln vehicles beginning in the 2004 model year. SmartBeam is at the forefront of a trend toward the use of miniature cameras to control vehicle functions and improve driving safety. The product is one of several drawing-board Gentex automotive applications using Photobit Corporation's semiconductor "camera-on-a-chip'' image-sensing technology. This new
headlamp-dimming technology utilizes a fully custom, forward-facing CMOS
(complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor that acquires images of
the region ahead of the vehicle. The system then processes the images and
-- if no other traffic appears to be present -- automatically activates the
vehicle's high beams. As soon as the system detects other vehicles'
headlamps and/or taillamps, it automatically returns the host vehicles'
headlamps to the normal, low-beam state. In short, drivers will no longer
have to manually switch between high or low beams, as the SmartBeam
system will automatically modulate between the two settings based on the
presence or absence of other vehicles in the sensor's pathway. "This is a major breakthrough in nighttime driving safety because it maximizes the use of the vehicle's high beams,'' said Gentex Executive Vice President Kenneth La Grand. "It is important, however, to note that SmartBeam is a very complex technology requiring integration with the vehicle's electrical system. As such, it requires further development and significant collaboration between Gentex and its customers.'' Lincoln Integrating SmartBeam
Ford Motor Company, through its Lincoln brand, is the first automaker to begin work with Gentex on integrating SmartBeam technology. "Lincoln is about effortless, rewarding motoring -- and technologies like SmartBeam complement our brand because they make driving safer and more enjoyable,'' said Al Kammerer, director of product development for Lincoln Mercury. La Grand believes that SmartBeam will help resolve an age-old safety problem -- the ineffective use of high beams. Many drivers are hesitant to use their high beams out of fear that they will forget to dim them and potentially annoy or temporarily "blind'' another driver. By preventing this scenario, SmartBeam ensures optimal use of a vehicle's high beams. Beams
Fade On and Off To make the transition from low to high beams and back again less distracting and more aesthetically pleasing, Gentex has engineered SmartBeam to slowly fade the high beams on and off. However, if traffic were to suddenly appear, such as when cresting a hill or rounding a corner, the system can immediately turn off the high beams -- reacting faster, in most cases, than the driver can. Previous "automatic'' systems abruptly changed from high to low beams and did not work well due to "nuisance" switching from detection of non-vehicle light sources. These systems also were unable to detect preceding vehicle taillamps effectively, and could not distinguish many types of light sources within an adequate time period. La Grand believes that the new Gentex system is a significant improvement over others previously offered, and submits that it has performed very well in demonstration tests. Several
recent advancements in headlamp technology have focused on making low-beam
headlamps brighter. However, because low beams point downward and
illuminate the road in front of the vehicle, they're not as effective as
high-beam headlamps at illuminating obstacles hundreds of feet in advance of the
vehicle. High-beam headlamps point outward, not downward, and
substantially improve the driver's ability to detect hazards at a greater
distance. A study by
the US Department of Transportation found that, on average, drivers use
their high beams less than 25 percent of the time during conditions that
justified their use. SmartBeam is expected to help alleviate those
problems for drivers and could potentially reduce the number of nighttime
vehicle-pedestrian and vehicle-animal accidents by substantially increasing
visibility through better use of high-beam headlamps. La Grand
continues: "In addition, as many people know, driving at night is
significantly more dangerous than driving during the day. Pedestrians and
cyclists on the roads at night are at especially high risk due to the limited
visibility of motorists. In fact, a recent University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) study found that pedestrians are
about four to six times more vulnerable at night than during the day. Low
visibility is an even greater factor in nighttime pedestrian deaths than [is]
alcohol consumption.'' Gentex has worked for several years on the development of this technology using a custom, active-pixel, CMOS sensor developed by Photobit Corporation. This sensor is unique in that it has the extremely high sensitivity necessary for adequate detection of distant tail lamps at a potential cost that could allow the feature to achieve substantial market penetration. Gentex has been granted four United States patents to date on this invention, and there are a number of patents pending in the US and around the world. Gentex and Photobit have been collaborating on automotive applications for advanced sensors and camera-on-a-chip products for several years. Gentex made an initial equity investment in Photobit in 1997, and currently owns approximately 10 percent of the company. [Top] ... see www.gentex.com. [Top]
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Copyright 2001: IVsource.net and Richard Bishop Consulting (RBC). All Rights Reserved. |
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July 2001 |