The smart headlights are coming

The smart headlights are coming

In the last 20 years, car headlights have been virtually reinvented. Where halogen lights used to be placed in front of simple reflectors, today there are xenon burners, control devices, light-emitting diodes, servomotors and microchips. While you could easily change the halogen bulb yourself - if you knew the appropriate base specification - modern adaptive laser light LED headlights have become such complex and expensive designs that in the event of damage, complete replacement is often the only option. End customers can then be hit hard by several thousand euros per headlight. The business with modern headlights therefore brings with it new challenges for workshops. On the one hand, you have to explain to customers why a “normal headlight” costs one to two months’ salary. And on the other hand, setting them requires the purchase of new, expensive setting devices and extensive knowledge of electronics. The times when the apprentice simply changed “the Birndl” are over.

Modern headlights are technically fascinating components. One of the technology leaders in this segment is the Austrian company ZKW Group, based in Wieselburg. They now build lighting and electronic systems for the most prominent automobile manufacturers and know how to impress with their innovations. An important core function of modern, adaptive headlights is either automatic dimming when there is oncoming traffic or the targeted exclusion of oncoming traffic from your own beams of light. This means that as a driver you can see more and oncoming traffic is not blinded despite full light output. To make this possible, many lighting systems rely on the support of frontal cameras installed in the vehicle. ZKW has already developed a new concept called “senseZ” as part of a strategic partnership with the Israeli startup Newsight Imaging. The complete sensor system and control for the self-sufficient high beam are located directly in the headlight. This means there is no need for a front camera. This is particularly interesting for those vehicles that are not equipped with it. This would give ZKW the opportunity to also offer such modern headlight solutions as aftermarket retrofit solutions for older vehicle models. The technology is currently still being tested.

In addition to cool looks and intelligent anti-dazzle algorithms, headlights have even more to offer: The new Range Rover uses ZKW's "Digital Light Processing" LED headlights, which make it possible to project animated (dynamic) images onto the road. This is made possible by innovative LED modules with 1.2 million pixels, whose light is directed via microscopically tiny, electronically controlled mirrors. As standard, the slim headlights provide continuously variable, glare-free high beam, which is controlled via a front camera and is intended to further increase road safety.