Development Trend of Modern Automotive Lighting System

At present, automotive lighting systems are undergoing important changes. Not only HID and LED light sources have been more widely used, but also automotive lighting systems are increasingly intelligent. And as the scope of intelligence continues to expand, automakers are wooing users with advantages such as being safer, greener, more beautifully designed, and more fuel-efficient. At the same time, new car models must also comply with the latest regulations, which leads to the continuous application of new technologies.

In addition to the license plate lamp, the main function of the sedan lamp is to provide the driver with road lighting, and in some cases can also play a signal, such as flashing headlights to show the other party's attention when passing. The exterior lights are set up to make it easier for other drivers to recognize the outline of the car and determine the direction of the car. Among them, the turn indicator and the brake light are very important signal indicators, which have a great bearing on the safety of automobiles. In order to further improve safety, in recent years, passenger cars have widely used sub-brake lights - high brake lights, placed in the rear window position to attract the attention of others.

The automotive lighting system is one of the three major safety components of automobiles and is the most important active safety device. Such as car headlights, it is an important part of ensuring the safe operation of the car, the longer the headlight lamp distance, the better the light distribution characteristics, the higher the safety performance of the car. As automotive lighting is a key component of vehicle safety, external lights and external lights are mandatory inspection items. In view of the important role of lighting in the safety of motor vehicles, countries have strict regulatory requirements. To change the traditional way of lighting, we must first study the issue of laws and regulations. To this end, Europe has organized working groups that automakers (such as BMW, Rover, Mercedes, Volkswagen/Audi, Ford, Volvo, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen), lighting system suppliers, and lamp manufacturers participated in to conduct research. To allow greater freedom in lighting design, gradually moving towards adaptive lighting, and proposing new regulations.

Automakers are attracting users with advantages such as being safer, greener, more beautifully designed, and more fuel-efficient. At the same time, new car models must also comply with the latest regulations, which leads to the continuous application of new technologies.

At present, the automotive lighting system is undergoing important changes, not only the HID and LED light sources have been more widely used, but also the automotive lighting system is increasingly intelligent, and in the scope of the intelligent extension. For example, the headlights can even be converted to any angle so that the driver can see the remote corners, but it also depends on the speed of the car. In addition, the lighting system inside the car also has an important influence on the interior environment of the car. Design engineers are also trying to make this system more integrated with the internal environment. With the development of automotive technology, more and more changes have taken place in the headlamps of cars. In modern cars, the previously used removable incandescent bulbs and incandescent vacuum headlamps have all been eliminated and replaced by halogen headlamps. It has swept the world in recent years and has become the main driver of car headlamps in various countries. . At present, many manufacturers have developed various kinds of samples under test, some smart headlights have been installed on the latest prototype.

Active rotary headlight

In the next few years we can see Audi's advanced headlamp lighting system, from top to bottom: the response of the corner light lighting system and steering lock and speed input; headlight rotation; headlight beam shape changes with the surrounding environment .

In fact, some Citroen models have already begun to use this type of rotating headlamp as early as a few years ago, but this technology is not universally popular. However, this type of active rotary headlights is again being mentioned and will have better applications than before.

Audi's advanced headlamp lighting system (AFS) has high hopes for its application in automobiles. In fact, the most basic lighting system for this technology (corner lamp lighting system) has been used in Audi A8 luxury cars and other cars. But what is even more interesting about the systems mentioned is that they can already reach the surrounding corners even before the car starts turning.

In the Audi system, side lighting mainly depends on the steering angle, but it is also related to the speed of the car. For example, when the car is driving on a freeway and in an urban area, when the corresponding input signal enters the system (including GPS), the headlight automatically changes the beam width, angle, and range. Almost all luxury cars currently sold are equipped with GPS navigation systems, so this system is very feasible, and the safety performance of the system is significant.

When a conventional low beam is turned at a radius of curvature of 190 meters, the conventional low beam lamp can provide an illumination range of only 30 meters, and the system can reach 55 meters. Active lighting systems using HID lighting technology have been widely used on Mercedes cars. The independent microcontroller controls the front lamp of the motor rotation by processing the instantaneous information from the sensors of the steering angle and speed. In addition, traditional active headlights can be used to reduce the chance of glare for the driver.

BMW Lighting System

The BMW Pixel Lighting System, a technology that German automakers began researching not long ago, is the so-called "pixelheadlights" system, which uses 480,000 independently controlled microscope lenses to replace the traditional launcher function. The shape of the front light pillar formed by this method is in full compliance with the driver's driving conditions, and at the same time it does not produce dazzling high-beam lighting. It also has unique lighting effects in corners, cities, highways, and bad weather. In addition, its subsidiary lights can also illuminate road signs.

The BMW Pixel light headlight system provides the driver with special tips and warnings. For example, the left-turn beam shows the corresponding left-turn arrow indication.

LED headlights and intelligent headlamps LED headlights: One of the Ford concept cars debuted at the North American International Auto Show will combine environmental technology with solar power as a source of electricity for the lighting system, collecting energy during daytime sunlight. After being stored, lighting can be used at night, while another concept car uses a light-emitting diode (LED) instead of a traditional light bulb because of its high brightness, short response time, and long life. In the past, LEDs were commonly used in taillights. This time Ford engineers applied the technology to the headlights. The 2007 Lincoln Aviator will also fully adopt this new lighting system, and it is foreseeable that all Ford's models will be able to use this headlight lighting system in the future. Ford will be the first depot to put LEDs into headlamp designs and mass production. In the new lighting system, in addition to the AFS active steering lighting system, combined with the LED light source, the main light still uses the traditional halogen bulb, with a high brightness light source but no HID dazzling doubts. The auxiliary lighting of the LED enables the vehicle to have a full range of lighting capabilities.

Intelligent Headlamp System: The mass production of Hella's bi-xenon headlamps using high-pressure gas discharge integrated high beam has matured. Based on this, the company has newly developed dynamic turn lights. Dynamic turning lights are an important part of the intelligent headlamp system. This new technology has greatly improved the safety and comfort of driving. The characteristic of the dynamic turning lamp is that under different turning radius, the head lamp can swing within ± 150 degrees horizontally, which makes the near-beam illumination area nearly double when turning, to help the driver to be better Adapt to curved road conditions faster. When the turning radius is 190m, ordinary headlights can illuminate about 30m ahead of the curve, and dynamic turning lights can extend the illuminated curve area by about 25m. Dynamic cornering lights also work when the high beam function is activated.

Halogen headlamps

Traditional headlights have two sets of filaments that emit distant and near light beams, respectively. The far-beam is brighter and farther away. It is mainly used for high-speed driving; the near-beam is darker and closer, and it is mainly used for cars. When using a remote light or a near light, all the lights are driven by the driver, and the intensity of each beam of the headlight is not adjustable. The angle is also adjusted during the installation process. As the driving speed of cars continues to increase, traditional headlights have increasingly shown their drawbacks. Driving in turns, vehicles, rain and fog, and driving on highways, two-beam headlamps make it difficult for drivers to see the road surface. The narrow field of vision is also likely to cause the driver of the other party to dazzle.

The traditional lamp consists of a tightly coiled fine tungsten wire in a light bulb filled with an inert gas. When the current passes through the tungsten wire, it will burn and emit white heat. Under the effect of high temperature, tungsten The tungsten atoms in the filaments are in an evaporation state. Over time, more and more tungsten atoms will evaporate. The tungsten filaments will burn even more and eventually they will be blown. The tungsten atoms will deposit on the relatively cold bulb glass. For a long time, there will be a shadow, covering the light, the brightness of the light will be reduced. The electro-optical engineers developed a halogen lamp to solve the above problems. The lamp is a small amount of iodine (Iodine is a halogen element in the chemical element) that is infiltrated by the inert gas in the bulb. The tungsten atoms evaporated from the filament react with the iodine atoms to generate the halogen lamp. The tungsten iodide compound, when the tungsten iodide compound contacts the white-heated filament (temperature exceeds 1450°C), will decompose and reduce to tungsten and iodine, and tungsten will return to the filament again, and the iodine will re-enter the gas. Such a cycle is endless, the filament will hardly blow, and the light bulb will not be black. Therefore, the halogen headlamps have longer life and greater brightness than conventional incandescent headlamps. Today's halogen lamps are made of quartz, also known as quartz halogen lamps, and can withstand very high temperatures.

Halogen lamps are mainly used as headlights for automobiles and have their unique light distribution structure. There are two sets of filaments in each lamp, one set is the main beam filament, and the emitted light is reflected directly by the reflector of the lampshade and is directly emitted forward. This kind of light source is commonly called “high beam”; the other group is the partial beam filament. The light is blocked by the visor to the upper part of the reflector of the lamp shade. The reflected light is diffused downward toward the ground and will not cause glare to the driver of the opposite vehicle. This kind of light source is commonly called “low beam”.

The current car headlight assembly is more popular than the low-resistance new built-in luminaires. The appearance matches the contours of the car body, so that it can be integrated into the car. At the same time, the lampshade has also been reformed, using a new type of concentrating glass, can provide a far more extensive vision area, not easy to cause dazzling oncoming drivers, the Japanese Lexus car is equipped with such a headlamp.

Lights

Although the cost of the xenon lamp is higher than that of the halogen lamp, due to its superior performance, the xenon lamp of brightness, color temperature, anti-glareness, and durability is better than the halogen lamp, so it has been paid more and more attention in the automobile. The car uses a xenon lamp. Halogen lamps have the same filaments as ordinary bulbs, while neon lamps have no filaments. This is the most important difference between xenon lamps and conventional lamps. The xenon lamp emits light from the arc generated by the discharger between the two electrodes, like the bright light of the arc generated in the welding. The high voltage pulse is applied between the metal electrodes in the fully enclosed micro quartz bulb (tube) and the material in the excitation bulb (helium, a small amount of mercury vapor, metal halide) is ionized in the arc to produce light. This bright color temperature is similar to sunlight, but contains more green and blue components, so it presents blue-white light. This blue-white light dramatically increases the brightness of road signs and signs.

The luminous flux emitted by the xenon lamp is more than twice that of the halogen lamp. At the same time, the efficiency of the conversion of electric energy into light energy is also more than 70% higher than that of the halogen lamp. Therefore, the xenon lamp has relatively high energy density and light intensity, and the operating current is only half that of the halogen lamp. . The increase in the brightness of the lights also effectively increases the visual range in front of the car, creating a safer driving condition. Xenon transformers and electronic control units control the arc discharge process, ensuring bright stability and continuity. Since the xenon lamp does not have a filament, there is no problem of discontinuing the filament break and the service life is much longer than that of a halogen lamp. According to reports, the service life of a xenon lamp is equivalent to the entire operating time of the car's average use cycle. What's more important is that once a fault occurs, the Xenon lamp will not go out instantly, but will go out through gradual darkening. This will allow drivers to win time in the dark and ride out of the car urgently. The deuterium lamp also has the advantage that it will not produce extra glare when properly installed and will not interfere with the oncoming driver.

The adoption of xenon lamps has increased the freedom of the design of the shape of the automotive headlight assembly, which has increased the arbitrariness of the design of the automotive front lighting surface. Through the development of a compact headlamp assembly, the aerodynamic performance of the car has been further improved. At present, in order to reduce the cost and simplify the structure, some four-lamp headlights of cars use a combination of xenon and halogen lamps, xenon lamps for high-beam systems, and halogen lamps for low-beam systems, giving full play to their respective performance.

taillight

Although not as intriguing as the development of headlamps, the taillight system has also undergone tremendous changes. One of these aspects is intelligence, which is to automate the implementation of taillights and improve communication with other road users. For example, if you frequently forget to turn off or misuse fog lights, they will automatically be replaced by taillights, but this will depend on the weather conditions.

Sensors used in lighting systems detect environmental conditions around the lens, contaminants, and even speed and traffic information. When there is a car at any time, after the input information is analyzed, the working mode of the tail light is automatically changed to “foggy” state to reduce the brightness of the rear light and avoid the occurrence of a car accident. By using pulse-width-adjustment LEDs, the brightness of the taillight can be easily changed in a wide range of costs at a low cost. Another smart technology is the emergency emergency. The automatic emergency lights will light up (this technology has been implemented in some cars, but only after the airbags are opened).

By using an LED matrix, the shape and brightness of the taillight can be changed accordingly. This method also provides day and night model-to-model changes and software-driven changes. If the LED matrix is ​​used for taillights, now that the shape of the taillight has been determined may not continue in the future, their shape can be determined and changed by software commands, which may depend on legal regulations (brake lights and indicator lights), eg Brake lights and reversing lights can be turned into different shapes. In the end, the illuminated area of ​​the brake light can also be determined by the speed of the car. The BMW concept car X-Coupe has adopted this technology. When the brakes are started, the brake lights are only bright. As the pedal pressure continues to increase, the lighting range gradually extends inwards, and the entire area is illuminated at full braking.

Currently, red LEDs have begun to be used in a series of automotive brake lights. Their low power consumption, fast lighting, and long service life make them more advanced than conventional lamps.

Interior lighting

As consumer demand for automotive comfort increases, automakers continue to develop new technologies to ease the psychological pressure between drivers and passengers while the car is in motion, and interior lighting technology is also more advanced. The Audi A8 has corresponding lights installed in door pockets, handles (inside and out), door trims, and footrests where drivers place their legs.

However, in fact, the interior of the car's lighting system still remains in the relatively initial stage. The lighting mode and control are usually implemented by hand. The lights in other cabins are only a few discrete ones. The interior lighting system should create a peaceful atmosphere. When the car stops at night and the driver leaves the car, the EL bar can slam into the door.

This so-called "psychic" approach has already begun to be applied in the Mercedes SL series of cars, including: illuminating the foot space of car drivers and passengers, creating a feeling of comfort in a wide space; night lights recessed in the door handle, helpful In the dark, passengers open the door; the central mirror of the car is equipped with a comprehensive light that emits a gentle light.

In order to ensure good condition, the SL series car has a special sensor to detect the brightness of the surrounding light, and the measured information is transmitted to the control module, which finally determines the internal light intensity.

China's automotive lamp production prospects are bright

The future of automotive lighting systems is exciting. Advanced headlights, variable-brightness taillights, and a more user-friendly interior lighting system are all new automotive lighting technologies that we will see in the near future.

With the ever-increasing use of automobiles, domestic and foreign auto makers have been rushing to the beach to form a trend of crowds and hegemony, thereby accelerating the changes in the Chinese auto market. In the next few years, four major changes will occur in China's auto market:

First, foreign automakers are increasingly localizing their sales in China; second, foreign automakers and Chinese autos are undergoing changes in a strategic alliance, and tend to be more flexible and open. Third, as Chinese consumers have increasingly improved their ability to discern cars, Foreign automakers have to introduce the most advanced models synchronously into Chinese sales. Fourth, some major automakers begin to produce cars in China and export them to other countries. The changes in the auto market have undoubtedly provided excellent opportunities for the production of auto parts. At the same time, they also raised a series of questions, that is, how to further improve the environmental protection technology, product quality, etc., so as to fundamentally adapt to the changing needs of the market.

The production of light bulbs for automobiles and motorcycles must be based on the market demand to determine the production plan. On the other hand, it should be based on the growth rate of its development. With the continuous development of the economy, China's automobile manufacturing industry has stepped into the world step by step, and the speed of automobile production is also accelerating. It is understood that while the rapid growth of automobile production, it also puts forward higher requirements for the production of auto parts. We must produce products that are more suitable for automotive changes. In the production of car lights, such as halogen-type H1, H9 and 800,900 series of new automotive light bulb production, efforts to develop new sources of metal halide automotive front lighting. However, some places where the lighting manufacturing industry is relatively developed and concentrated have little or no indication of the production of lighting bulbs for automobiles and motorcycles. Many companies lack the necessary technologies and equipment in the production of such products.

In fact, with the reform of state-owned enterprises and the gradual withdrawal of the state-owned economy, privately-owned small and medium-sized enterprises can use the outstanding technical talents cultivated by state-owned enterprises for many years to develop new technologies for the production of light bulbs for automobiles and motorcycles. This will also become the growth of private enterprises. Another way out. According to industry sources, there is a large gap in the production of car lights. China's existing policy advantages, market advantages, and advantages of manufacturers, as well as cluster lighting production groups, etc., such as grasping good business opportunities, will be able to create a group of production of automotive, motorcycle lighting Giants.