Ford could be working on a wild car headlights system that follows the driver's gaze

Date:
Mon, 05 Aug 2024 13:22:48 +0000

Description:
Another ford patent filing has been unveiled, this time it focusses on headlights that automatically adjust to a driver's gaze.

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Ford has been busy innovating of late, as following our report that the Blue Oval may be working on a camera system that automatically snitches on
speeding drivers , news has surfaced that it is also attempting to modernize the headlight.

A patent , which Ford filed early last year but has recently been published
by the United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO ), involves a headlight system that tracks the driver's gaze and adjusts the beam direction accordingly.

The carmaker says that by tracking the driver's vision, its powerful
headlamps could help illuminate potential obstacles and vulnerable road users that perhaps arent in the direct line of the headlight beam.

According to Auto123 , Ford is proposing to combine eye and head-tracking systems with the vehicles already-installed object detection technology,
which usually relies on video feeds and radar to pick up obstacles.

When the two systems work in conjunction, the technology would be able to recognize when a driver has spotted an animal or pedestrian at the side of
the road, for example, and then adapt the headlight beam to light up the area and make it easier to track any potential risks. Eyes on the prize (Image credit: United States Patent and Trademark Office)

As with Fords potential camera-based speeding technology, this is just a patent filing for now, so may not ever see the light of day. But it interesting to see where headlight technology is heading.

Matrix LED headlights have proven the biggest technological leap in recent years, with the likes of Audi showcasing systems that can automatically
switch off individual high-powered LEDs, so the high-beams can remain
switched on without dazzling oncoming traffic.

In the US, modern matrix LED headlights that automatically adjust have only recently been made legal, following a change in the rules that dated back to 1967.

Front lighting systems that automatically adjust with steering input have
also been in use for a number of years now, but eye-tracking appears to be
the next logical step that some manufacturers are taking.

Alongside Ford's recent patent filing reveal, General Motors more specifically Vauxhall and Opel is also reportedly working on a research project that similarly tracks the drivers gaze and adjusts the headlight direction accordingly.

However, New Atlas says that the project ran into issues surrounding sluggish data crunching andheadlight actuators that couldnt keep up with inputs. Similarly, the natural tendency for a driver's eyes to dart around resulted
in erratic high beam movement.

Apparently, this was combated using an algorithm that delayed the response to some extent and resulted in smoother movements. Regardless, both of the proposed technologies appear to still be in the testing phase for now, with
no word on when we might see it go into production. You might also like Ford could be working on a camera system that automatically reports speeding vehicles Audi shows off the all-new A6 e-tron and it's the most aerodynamic Audi ever Xiaomi goes wild with 1,526bhp version of its debut SU7 electric vehicle



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech/hybrid-electric-vehicles/ford-could-be- working-on-a-wild-car-headlights-system-that-follows-the-drivers-gaze


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