Car Fule

To make life easier for motorists when night driving and make it safer, engineers from Ford Europe’s Research and Advanced Engineering department are developing a new predictive headlight technology. This uses the car’s real-time location data to indicate the best path to follow.

Ford: smart headlights for more safety

This new smart headlight technology uses directional headlights, but whose beams are directed towards the bends before the driver has even seen them. Thus, the profile of the road, intersections, possible dangers as well as other road users are better informed, and thus allow the driver to better anticipate his night driving.

“The predictive lighting technology we are currently developing means that one day driving in the dark could be as easy as following your headlights. This new mapping and location based system is the next step in our quest to make nighttime driving no more difficult or stressful than daytime driving. “ says Michael Koherr, lighting research engineer at Ford of Europe.

In practice, this prototype headlight uses the GPS location data as well as the data on the geometry of the road, and calculates the trajectory and the speed of the vehicle in order toadjust the orientation of the headlights in real time. In the absence of GPS data, a camera takes over and works in concert with the classic function of directional headlights according to the steering angle of the steering wheel, to continue to ensure the operation of the system before the data is returned.

This new smart headlight system is yet to be marketed by Ford, but it is expected to equip future models of the brand in the near future.

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