The US company, Gentex Corporation, a leading developer and supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire protection products, announced a new technology, called SmartBeam(TM), th…
The US company, Gentex Corporation, a leading developer and supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire protection products, announced a new technology, called SmartBeam(TM), that maximizes a driver“s forward vision by significantly improving utilization of the vehicle“s high-beam headlamps during nighttime driving. Lincoln Mercury is already developing plans to adopt the technology and launch SmartBeam on Lincoln vehicles beginning in the 2004 model year. SmartBeam is at the forefront of a trend toward the use of miniature cameras to control vehicle functions and improve driving safety. SmartBeam is one of several potential Gentex automotive applications using Photobit Corporation“s semiconductor “camera-on-a-chip” image-sensing technology. This new headlamp-dimming technology utilizes a fully custom, forward-facing CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor that acquires images of the region ahead of the vehicle. The system then processes the images, and if no other traffic is present, it automatically activates your high beams. When the system detects other vehicles“ headlamps and/or taillamps, it automatically returns your headlamps to their normal, low-beam state. In short, drivers will no longer have to manually switch between high or low beams, as Gentex“s SmartBeam system will automatically modulate between the two settings based on the presence or absence of other vehicles in the sensor“s pathway. “This is a major breakthrough in nighttime driving safety because it maximizes the use of the vehicle“s high beams,” said Gentex Executive Vice President Kenneth La Grand. “It is important, however, to note that SmartBeam is a very complex technology requiring integration with the vehicle“s electrical system. As such, it requires further development and significant collaboration between Gentex and its customers.” Ford Motor Company, through the Lincoln brand, is the first automaker to begin work with Gentex on SmartBeam technology. “Lincoln is about effortless, rewarding motoring – and technologies like SmartBeam complement our brand because they make driving safer and more enjoyable,” said Al Kammerer, director of product development for Lincoln Mercury. La Grand believes that SmartBeam will help resolve an age-old safety problem – the ineffective use of high beams. Many drivers are hesitant to use their high beams out of fear that they will forget to dim them and potentially annoy or temporarily “blind” another driver. “SmartBeam prevents this problem and ensures the optimal use of a vehicle“s high beams. The system maximizes forward vision by turning on the vehicle“s high beams when no other vehicle traffic present, and reverting back to low-beam intensity when detecting either the headlamps of oncoming traffic or the tail lamps of preceding vehicles.” To make the transition from low to high beams and back again less distracting and more aesthetically pleasing, Gentex has engineered SmartBeam to slowly fade the high beams on and off. However, if traffic were to suddenly appear, such as when cresting a hill or rounding a corner, the system can immediately turn off the high beams, in most cases reacting faster than the driver could. For years, the automotive industry has sought a solution to the dilemma between maximizing forward vision and reducing oncoming glare to make nighttime driving safer. La Grand said that until now, achieving greater forward visibility by utilizing the brighter advanced technology headlamp systems available in today“s market has been limited by the driver“s ability to accurately switch the manual system. Previous “automatic” systems abruptly changed from high to low beams and did not work well due to nuisance switching from non-vehicle light sources. They also were unable to effectively see preceding vehicle taillamps, and could not distinguish many types of light sources within an adequate time period. He believes that the new Gentex system is a significant improvement over others previously offered and has performed very well in demonstration tests. Several recent advancements in headlamp technology have focused on making low-beam headlamps brighter. However, because low beams point downward and illuminate the road in front of the vehicle, they“re not as effective as high-beam headlamps at illuminating obstacles hundreds of feet in advance of the vehicle. High-beam headlamps point outward, not downward, and substantially improve the driver“s ability to detect hazards at a greater distance. A U.S. Department of Transportation study found that, on average, drivers use their high beams less than 25% of the time during which conditions justified their use. SmartBeam could help alleviate those problems for drivers and could potentially reduce the number of nighttime motor vehicle-pedestrian and motor vehicle-animal accidents by substantially increasing the use of high-beam headlamps. Gentex has worked for several years on the development of this technology using a custom, active-pixel, CMOS sensor developed by Photobit Corporation. This sensor is unique in that it has the extreme, high sensitivity necessary for adequate detection of distant tail lamps at a potential cost that could allow the feature to achieve substantial market penetration. Gentex has been granted four United States patents to date on this invention, and there are a number of patents pending in the U.S. and around the world. Gentex and Photobit have been collaborating on automotive applications for advanced sensors and camera-on-a-chip products for several years. Gentex made an initial equity investment in Photobit in 1997, and currently owns approximately 10% of the company.