Daimler introduces new adaptive lighting technology

Mercedes-Benz will pave the way for a new age of enlightenment from early next year. At that time, the company will begin offering an adaptive high-beam assistant which automatically adjusts headlight range between 65 and 300 metres forward of the car.

In effect, drivers will no longer need to dip the car's lights manually, as a reciprocating car approaches; the adaptive system will do that automatically.

The new system has already been shown to enhance the visibility of pedestrians by the side of the road to as much as 260 metres from the car -- approximately double the visual range with conventional dipped beam lighting.

Updating input data every 40 milliseconds, the adaptive system can continuously adjust both throw and yield as another car approaches, ensuring the other vehicle is always outside the range of the light 'cone'. In addition, light is cast appropriately in tighter corners.

Technologically, a camera positioned inside the windscreen monitors the road ahead of the car and provides the data for the system's image-processing algorithm to adjust lighting at speeds above 55km/h. For the system to operate, the driver must switch the rotary dial for the headlights to the 'Auto' setting first and select high beam.

Mercedes-Benz will bundle this adaptive system with an Intelligent Light System with five operating modes, according to the prevailing conditions at the time. Those are country light mode, motorway mode, active light function, cornering light function and extended fog light mode.

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