Around 240 attendees and exhibitors were present at the 2016 DVN Tokyo workshop. 38 were from 12 automaker brands, 72 were from 18 brands of lamp set makers, 118 were from 31 tier-2 brands, and ten organisations and regulatory bodies were represented.
18 sponsors were present with wonderful exhibitions.
The Japanese companies’ lectures were notably interesting. They were presented in Japanese and the presenters were much more open and expressive than in European and American congresses.
The 5 key points developed during the DVN Tokyo Workshop 2016 were:
• With the arrival of autonomous cars, the future of automotive lighting is more and more complex and interesting to consider. How will today’s functionalities merge with (and/or give way to) tomorrow’s new ones?
• ADB, though not yet accepted by NHTSA, is the technology everyone is working on. There’s a big mix of techniques (matrix, pixel, DLP, MEMS, etc).
• There’s a glut of newcomers starting to be present in the automotive lighting field as the presentations of NXP and Mektec showed. And existing known participants as Bosch, Infineon, Lear, Panasonic, Texas Instruments, are branching out in interesting ways.
• Standardisation is becoming more and more important, for all not visible inside the headlamp: light source, bulb holders, electronics, modules.
• We all need to advocate and strive toward regulations that are as simple, safety-orientated, performance-based, and technology-neutral as possible. Geoff Draper: “To realise the benefits of technology neutral and stable regulation its industry members must invest the time of its experts, and support the cost of the associated research”.