- Trendsetting: Third generation adaptive lighting already in development
- Forward-looking: Eye movements control direction and intensity of headlamp beam
- Across all classes: Opel safety lighting system AFL+ from Astra to Insignia
- Coming soon: LED Matrix light makes glare-free high beams the standard
Lightning-fast reaction: The camera in Opel’s eye-tracking system scans the driver’s eyes more than 50 times per second to instantaneously adjust the headlamp beam. |
Safety on board: The AFL+ system in the Opel Insignia ensures variable light distribution according to driving situation, road and weather conditions. |
Glare-free: Opel’s LED Matrix light deactivates individual LEDs so that oncoming traffic is not dazzled. The rest of the road remains brightly illuminated. |
In contrast to high-performance eye-tracking systems requiring five to 10 cameras, a simple webcam was at first used. Focused on the driver’s head, it scanned prominent points, such as the nose and eyes, to detect movement and thereby the driver’s line of sight.
The system then translated the information gathered into data commands for electronically-controlled actuators, which quickly aligned the vehicle’s headlamp projectors. While this technique came very close to achieving eye-control of the headlamps, calculation of data still took too long and the recording rate of the webcam was also too slow to meet the demanding requirements of road traffic conditions.
Fast reaction and intelligent delay
Even as Opel is developing eye-tracking as the lighting system of the future, it already provides advanced technologies which ensure optimal night vision and highest driving safety on roads today. Opel has brought a break-through in automotive lighting in offering the current generation of AFL+ in a wide range of models, from the Mokka, Cascada and Zafira Tourer to the Astra and Insignia families, thus once again delivering on the company’s ambition of making premium technologies available to a wider audience. In combination with the Opel Eye front camera, it features up to 10 lighting functions, using Bi-Xenon headlamp beams which automatically adapt to a diverse range of driving situations. For different road and weather conditions, variable light distribution is automatically provided as appropriate for pedestrian areas, city driving, country roads, highways and adverse weather. AFL+ also includes functions such as dynamic curve light, cornering light and the use of energy-saving LED daytime running lights. The direction and intensity of the light beam is adjusted according to both steering angle and vehicle speed. In addition, high beam light assistant switches the headlamps to low beam whenever the forward-facing Opel Eye camera, integrated in the interior mirror mounting, detects the proximity of headlamps or tail-lights of other vehicles. A Light and Visibility Pack also includes automatic low beam lighting, together with tunnel recognition. With this array of automatic lighting functions, AFL+ not only improves the visibility of one’s own vehicle but also reduces driver stress and night-time drowsiness.
Bright as day: The LED Matrix light system
Parallel to refining the proven AFL+ and conducting the development of the future eye-tracking lighting generation, engineers at Opel’s International Technical Development Center in Rüsselsheim are currently completing the final validation tests on their next-generation lighting system for upcoming Opel vehicles. LED Matrix light provides glare-free, high beam lighting, which is automatically and constantly adapted for varying traffic situations. In this way, the LED Matrix light functions with the Opel Eye front camera, but its accuracy and adaptive capacity go one step forward. When light sources are detected from oncoming or preceding traffic, individual LEDs in the relevant zone are deactivated, while the rest of the road remains brightly illuminated. This Opel automotive lighting system turns night into day for drivers without dazzling other road users. It will be introduced within the next 18 months.
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