Application of Laser Technology in Automobile

When it comes to laser pointer technology applications in the car, we perhaps laser welding, laser cutting and laser marking technology familiar, thanks to car manufacturers hard propaganda, even ordinary consumers are aware of a car body laser welding length reaches the number of meters. Indeed, laser processing technology as an advanced manufacturing technology in automotive applications greatly enhance the level of manufacturing cars, improve production efficiency and quality. However, with the development of technology, laser applications in the car and not limited to these processing areas.

Laser headlights: smaller, lighter, more energy-efficient

Car headlights on cars as an important component in providing illumination to ensure road safety also played a decorative role and aesthetics. Now, with the continuous development of technology, it is also hoped that it can be more bright, but also be more energy-efficient and durable. Thus, in the automotive industry a hundred years of history, car headlights also experienced a series of technical innovations, from the halogen headlights, xenon headlamps to today's LED headlamps. However, when the car manufacturers are still vigorously promote the various advantages of LED headlights,burning laser pointer headlights "grab" a great come from behind the trend.

Audi R8LMX Laser Headlights

It is understood that the first to propose the idea of laser technology for automotive headlamps are BMW and Sandia National Laboratories. They used blue, red, green and yellow light combine to create a light emitter produces a comparable ordinary white light source, but also a better solution to the laser diode laser hair white color rendering poor quality problems. In 2011, BMW will be the first laser headlamps applied i8 concept car, the car production models to the market in the autumn of 2014, becoming the world's first production car equipped with laser headlamps, followed in turn applied to the new BMW generation 7 Series models. At the same time, many achievements in the field of automotive lighting and Audi fans were dubbed the "Light Factory" natural to be outdone, has its matrix laser headlight technology is also used in R8LMX production car.

People will ask: LED headlamps already have energy saving, long life, small size, brightness, low attenuation and the corresponding speed, etc., why do you need it in fact laser headlights, the laser light source is different from ordinary light, it's just color? light source, only one wavelength of light, so this feature allows the laser light more brightness, light type can be accurately, quickly and safely control. Thanks to these characteristics, in addition to having the advantages of laser headlamps LED lights, the higher its brightness, LED headlamps is a thousand times, thus further irradiation, laser headlights BMW i8 models the effective radiation on the distance of up to 600 m; in addition the volume of 20000mw laser pen headlight assembly smaller, giving automotive designers design leaves more space; more importantly, higher lighting efficiency of the laser headlights, thus more energy efficient in the future depend advantage of battery-powered electric vehicle will become more apparent.

Laser Radar: the Development of Automatic Driving Vehicle

If the car is about to enter a new lighting era, the automotive industry is also another great era will come, and that is self-driving cars. Self-driving cars is the utilization of sensors and vehicle networking technology to collect vehicle and the vehicle surroundings data, onboard computer through these real-time data as the basis to judge to control the vehicle's acceleration, braking and steering systems in order to achieve the unmanned under a technology self-driving.

Google Automatic Car Driving Test

In real-time data collection, sensors mounted on the vehicle plays a very crucial role, these include a camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors. In fact, these technologies have been in today's vehicles widespread application for lifting traffic safety, such as lane keeping, the emergency braking system and reversing aids. However, these sensor technologies have advantages and disadvantages, in terms of any kind of automatic pilot technology can not meet the demand. And another for the Detection and Ranging technology - laser 5000mw radar applications in the car, and these sensors complement each other to speed up the implementation of self-driving cars.

Laser radar, also known as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), based on the position of the emitted laser beam to detect targets, speed and distance and other characteristics of the system. It is understood that the laser radar originally used in the military field, as target detection and tracking system, is considered to be more difficult to detect enemy interference and devices. Unlike camera and ultrasonic sensors, laser radar data by reading the laser reflection can accurately determine the shape and position of the object, or even detect lane markers, potholes and slope, to achieve these data for the car is very autopilot important. In addition, since the laser beam long range, it can detect more distant objects, making the car can "see" farther.

On Google's autonomous vehicles, positioning navigation system will use a 64 laser technology for object detection and ranging, to collect more than one million data points of information, providing critical location information and navigation functions. In addition to Google, including Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Nissan and other companies as well as the mainland, including OEM, Bosch and Delphi and other first-tier suppliers, are developing and testing autonomous vehicles technology, in addition, Baidu's unmanned driving a car has also been tested on the road, these companies naturally also uses laser radar technology. In the foreseeable future, the development of self-driving cars will lidar create huge market demand.

Laser HUD: To Improve Traffic Safety

Head-up display (HUD), also known as HUD, in recent years the car has received more and more attention. The device information of the vehicle will travel by way of projection onto the front windshield, such as vehicle speed, engine speed, navigation information, as well as some oil warning information. HUD allows the driver of the vehicle in the process with eyes remain on the road ahead, do not looked down to see the information, thus helping to improve traffic safety.

Traditionally, the use of head-up display lamp as a light source directly reflected by the screen display data, the results show that with the quality of light and brightness of a great relationship. As the projector as a light source from HUD through the traditional light bulb turning to LED, laser 3000mw technology until today. The first laser HUD first appeared at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Audi and Pioneer showcased their technology.

Laser headlights, laser radar and laser HUD, which are have been used in the production model. However, laser technology in automotive applications is not limited to this, such as research institutions and have car manufacturers began to try a laser ignition system for an engine spark plugs improve combustion efficiency up; in addition to car manufacturers use laser gesture detection and ranging (equivalent to the foregoing principle of laser radar), for the gesture control system, the system of control. Looking to the future, with the advent of technology continues to evolve and new needs, the laser will play a greater potential to meet the demand for automotive safety, environmental protection and intelligent.