In the last four years, matrix-based adaptive driving beam systems without mechanical actuators have been developed. The light distribution is divided into a row of beam elements each lit by its own LED. A matrix of these high-luminance LEDs allows rapid switching of each beam element, thus dynamically shaping the composite beam. This technology is increasingly used on premium cars (and also on some more popularly priced models).
To increase the resolution of ADB, four technologies are developing and will be in production cars in the next 3-5 years:
DMD
| The DMD system uses DLP (digital light processing), a micro-mirror array with two switching states. One state reflects the light to an absorber so it doesn’t exit the lamp; the other state will send light to the street. A high-luminance LED is projected onto the DLP, which is in the focal plane of the optical system. Thus, all the micro-mirrors in the on-state are imaged onto the street. The light has to be focused on a DLP size of 1-2 cm, but allows megapixel-level resolution. |
µMatrix
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The micro-matrix solution consists of one LED chip divided into 1,024 separate switchable pixels. The field plane here consists of the LED array itself, so the light distribution can be changed additively. One advantage of this technology is that energy is consumed only in those pixels which are switched on. A first headlamp prototype was built and successfully tested in spring 2016 as part of the µAFS project. |
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