"Smart" lighting

In the development of new automotive technology major lines of work are now improving vehicle safety and environmental performance. BMW contributes to the development of the first areas: road safety. The innovative lighting technology from BMW is able to take into account the vertical and horizontal relief road, and the presence of oncoming vehicles traveling ahead, and vehicle speed. Depending on all these factors, "intelligent" system changes the intensity and direction of the headlamps. How? Read on. Adaptive HA, developed by BMW, is able to change the angle of the light cone lights, depending on the vertical profile of the road. Simply put, the system keeps track of which way you go, and if you start moving up the hill or from it, changing the angle of incidence so as to best illuminate the space in front of the car. For the relief of watching the special sensors, they detect the slope of the road surface and transmit data to a control unit which, in turn, given the speed and angle of the road, looking forward to what angle to turn lights and transmits a signal to the light cones, so they turned to the calculated angle. lighting of the roadway allows for the vertical profile of the road. Adaptive HA works not only when driving uphill or into it, it also compensates for the high loading the car, slightly lowering the light cones of headlights, and lift the heavy braking lights, respectively. Another innovative feature of the BMW - it's rotating adaptive light. It monitors the road twists and turns lights in accordance with them. The system takes into account the steering angle, the intensity and angular rotation speed and in accordance with these parameters calculates the required rotation angle of the headlights. Also, at every turn of the system includes an additional light cone that illuminates the road in the direction of its bending. The next innovation in lighting engineering - it changes the light distribution. It is part of an adaptive bending of light, but works differently. Variable light distribution system is focused on vehicle speed and according to her lights zone important in terms of security. At low speeds, the system activates the urban mode, in which vividly highlights the possible occurrence of pedestrian zones, that is, lights are shining quite close, but at the maximum wide angle. At speeds over 110 km / h mode is activated "Autobahn", increases range of lighting and its intensity. Variable light distribution system also analyzes weather conditions and contributes to providing the best visibility. For example, the system is very effective in fog, it automatically switches to a mode in which light is the main fog light, connects to the coverage of additional turning the light cones, which increases the viewing angle. Also, the system reduces the range of lighting and its intensity increases, which allows you to move in adverse weather conditions without undue stress. The control system allows the high beams are not distracted by the on-off beam when driving at night. The camera, built-in rear-view mirror housing monitors the counter and in front of cars coming and sends a signal to the control unit, which in turn activates or deactivates the high beam, depending on traffic conditions. The system also analyzes the degree of ambient light and automatically controls the high beams in dependence on them. All these innovations so far established only on the BMW 7 Series new generation. But judging by the breakthrough, which has made BMW in the field of lighting technology, we can say that soon the drivers will not have to worry about how, when and what kind of light to activate. "Smart" technology will do everything for us. bmw.com