German automaker Volkswagen recently premiered its latest generation Touareg in China. The new model features the LED Matrix Headlamps that Volkswagen developed together with German-based auto parts producer Hella. Volkswagen plans to offer the novel lighting system for the new luxury class SUV under the name of “IQ.LIGHT — LED Matrix Headlamps”.
The adaptive matrix headlamps will employ targeted control of up to 128 LEDs to provide.precise and optimal light distribution and luminous intensity. Hella contends that compared to conventional lighting systems, the LED Matrix Headlamps will enhance safety and comfort because they will allow drivers to recognize road details and possible obstacles at night earlier, giving them more time to respond.
Individually controlled LEDs blend into a matrix of light areas in, both, the high and low beam modules. The low beam employs a matrix of 48 LEDs positioned on a shared circuit board. The high beam circuit board uses 27 LEDs. Combined these 75 LEDs form the adaptive matrix light.
Each LED Matrix Headlamp Features 128 Individually Controlled LEDs
53 additional LEDs ensure that lighting functions can be shown, including the illumination in front of the vehicle, as well as the daytime running lights, the cornering lights, the position lights, and the direction indicators. In total, the front lamps of the new Touareg will use 256 LEDs.
The front digital camera will analyze the road conditions, spot oncoming vehicles, etc. And that data combined with GPS data, along with speed, and steering angles will go into selecting the LEDs in the matrix to provide the ideal headlamp illumination for the road and the surrounding area up ahead in less than a second.
In the Touareg, the LED Matrix Headlamp system performs the LED selection and illumination within the headlamp matrix automatically using “Dynamic Light Assist” to turn on and off the LEDs independently and adjust the lights to the current environment, topography, and traffic situation.
Through an aggregate of many different pieces of data, the car recognizes the driving location as on a city or a country road, on the highway, or off-road and will anticipate where other road users might currently be located. The very precise illumination of individual LEDs within the LED Matrix Headlamps ensures that the lights never produce glare. Therefore, the system will support the driver with the best possible lighting without bothering other road users.
The camera-based system reacts to signs by temporarily dimming the LEDs to avoids causing glare for Touareg drivers themselves. The camera even identifies reflections caused by rain-slicked roads and reduces them to avoid glare. Hella points out that the additional illuminating adjustability of the LED Matrix Headlamps is clear for drivers.
