Using light as the key to gain insight into the future: ams-OSRAM decodes cutting-edge smart driving LEDs from “start to finish”

"With the advent of the AI era, cars have become more like mobile brains. We are using photons as the medium to become the link between the AI brain and end users (drivers, passengers and road users)."

Recently, ams Osram senior marketing manager Luo Li pointed out at the 12th China Hard Technology Industry Chain Innovation Trend Summit and Hundreds of Media Forum that for the future of automotive lighting, in addition to cost issues that are generally concerned by the industry, ams Osram is more concerned about technological innovation and how to free designers to do more creative designs in styling, increase the plasticity of engineering architecture design, and provide more options for emotional support or media interaction.
· LED, light and intelligence in intelligent driving ·

Through ams's three revolutionary innovative products, namely EVIYOS® 2.0 headlight solution, OSIRE® E3731i ambient lighting module, and SYNIOS® P1515 taillight/signal light solution, Luo Li demonstrated a new blueprint for the cutting-edge development of smart driving LED technology to 100+ online and offline attending media and 350+ online and offline pre-registered professional audiences.

PART.01

Intelligent evolution of headlights

A human hair is about 50μm, Luo Li said, and our EVIYOS® 2.0’s 25,600 pixels are “compressed” onto a curved surface of only 40mm2 (as shown below). This is quite an achievement and reflects our unremitting efforts in technological innovation.

It is understood that EVIYOS® 2.0 is also the industry's first LED that combines light and electronics. It can be widely used to implement welcome projection, lane change light blanket guidance, lane keeping assist warning, slippery road warning and other driving safety-related applications.

Take glare-free high beams as an example. Luo Li explained that based on EVIYOS® 2.0, there is no need to turn off the high beam when meeting cars, because it can intelligently identify various objects on the road that need to avoid glare, and intelligently turn on and off some pixels to achieve the effect of active ADB.

This kind of high-beam headlight that can remain on continuously can maximize the driver's visual area and greatly improve driving safety.

In addition to being enthusiastically sought after by the automotive market, the 25,600-pixel smart LED EVIYOS® 2.0 has also been expanded into many commercial and industrial lighting fields (as shown above) to achieve high-quality dynamic lighting. Its power, volume, weight and cost also fully meet application requirements.

With the launch of the uLED smart projector lamp launched in cooperation with Xiaoxiang Lighting, EVIYOS® 2.0 is expected to lead a new round of "pixelation" trend in commercial and industrial lighting.

PART.02

The colorful revolution of ambient lighting

Subsequently, Luo Li focused on introducing the RGBi LED, OSIRE® E3731i, the industry's first product based on OSP open architecture that integrates LED and driver in one package. This RGBi LED is specially designed for dynamic cabin lighting applications.

Luo Li pointed out that the common demand for turning cars into a "third living space" means that "light" is not only for lighting, but also needs to be an information carrier for human-car interaction. For example, the music rhythm of the ambient light, prompts for changing different driving modes, intelligent recognition of user emotions to provide different brightness or colors, or reminders based on the scene outside the car, and combined with smart surface applications to create more application scenarios, etc.

Through simple animations, Luo Li demonstrated four application scenarios of RGBi products on the spot. The upper left is indication and interaction scenarios; the upper right is information enhancement, including emotional connection; the lower left is smart surfaces, including application scenarios combined with fabric or hidden buttons; the lower right is warnings directly related to safety.

Luo Li particularly emphasized that every scene here has actual driving cases and is not just an imaginary plan.

Under this trend, the number of LED particles in the cabin is increasing. How should a car factory or a lighting factory balance cost and quantity? With so many RGB LEDs, how can the colors be mixed evenly and harmoniously? How to ensure that RGB from different suppliers will not cause a large delay or inconsistent color when changing colors?

Luo Li gave an example, saying that there are now as many as 3 or 400 LEDs in the car. According to the traditional distributed architecture design, the number of nodes will be very large, and each node will need to be driven. The entire system will be very complex, and future OTA upgrades will also encounter many difficulties.

This is the main purpose of ams and Osram's efforts to launch the OSP open architecture: through OSP, many restrictions from MCU manufacturers are eliminated (many domestic MCUs have also been debugged), and stable cross-board connections can be achieved only based on the physical layer of the CAN transceiver. Luo Li pointed out that in other words, based on the OSP architecture, only one twisted pair and high and low power frequencies are needed to connect up to 1,000 RGBi devices in series using an SPI interface.

Furthermore, the OEM only needs to embed it on the main domain controller to make very intelligent connections between different nodes in the vehicle. That is, through OSP, in addition to our RGBi products, you can also connect to SAID independent driver chips and sensors with I2C communication, including ambient light sensors, pressure sensors, etc. You can also directly connect to this bus in a plug-in manner without destroying the overall architecture. This method can also perfectly adapt to the trend of car manufacturers’ OTA upgrade of car functions. It can be said that OSP+RGBi is a disruptive innovation in cabin lighting.

Luo Li added that each of our RGBi chips also stores the current, voltage, color point, brightness and other information tested at the factory. This means that there is no need for online calibration of these RGBi in the subsequent production line. The driver can achieve uniform color throughout the vehicle by directly issuing instructions.

PART.03

The aesthetics and functionality of combined tail lights go hand in hand

Finally, Luo Li introduced ams-OSRAM's innovative packaged LED chip SYNIOS® P1515, which uses non-traditional side 360° surround lighting technology to provide structural innovation for automotive lighting.

Currently, SYNIOS® P1515 is mainly used in two automotive exterior lighting scenarios:

Simplified structure: As a replacement for traditional top-emitting LEDs, SYNIOS® P1515 can simplify the complex reflective bowl structure into a direct installation solution. While maintaining the same brightness and uniformity, it can reduce the number of LEDs and their driving circuits by increasing the spacing between LEDs, thereby reducing system costs.

For example, an analysis of a typical case of a tail penetration light found that the number of LED particles can be reduced by up to 2/3, and the cost of the entire system can be significantly reduced.

Ultra-thin and uniform light emission: Utilizing its 360° light-emitting characteristics, SYNIOS® P1515 can achieve an OLED-like surface light-emitting effect.

In the design of specific taillights, signal lights, etc., traditional straight-down solutions usually require a depth of 20-30mm, while SYNIOS® P1515 can be compressed to 5mm or less. Taking the ratio of 1:2 as an example, when LEDs are arranged one every 10mm, the thickness of the entire structure can be reduced to 5mm, which greatly improves design flexibility while maintaining excellent uniformity.

In addition, when using a matrix layout, SYNIOS® P1515 can also achieve local dimming, allowing a certain degree of dynamic display and pattern display. By setting a grille between LEDs to adjust the light path, the contrast can be further improved, giving greater freedom in pattern design.

At the same time as the seminar, E-Dimension Think Tank solemnly announced the "2024 E-Dimension Think Tank Hard Technology Industry Awards" to commend those companies that have made remarkable achievements in the field of innovation and to demonstrate their unremitting pursuit of technological progress. At the same time, a new batch of think tank honorary experts were also awarded, thanking them for their efforts and contributions in industrial science popularization, trend foresight, and technology analysis.

ams Osram won the 2024 Industrial Ecosystem Award and the 2024 To B Digital Marketing Pioneer Award for promoting the prosperity of the industrial ecosystem and leading the industry in omni-channel, multi-form, and insightful precision marketing.

ams Osram's OSLON® Black new generation infrared high-power LED, relying on its independently developed IR:6 chip, has achieved industry-leading brightness and efficiency in the 850nm band, and won the 2024 "E" Madangxian New Product Award.

Let’s build a prosperous ecosystem together.

Leading industrial innovation,

Model of open collaboration,

Pioneer of technological innovation,

Digital empowerment, gathering light into a torch.

Omni-channel layout creates a communication network,

New concept operations lead the industry trend.

Ignite the spark of digital marketing,

Inspire the light of a smart future.

Better energy consumption and clearer images.

Integrated design,

precise control, effective anti-glare;

photoelectric fusion, perfect example;

Luo Li, senior marketing manager of ams-OSRAM, was awarded the title of Honorary Expert by the E-Dimension Think Tank for his enthusiastic participation and extensive influence on hard technology science popularization and was awarded a license to express his gratitude for his efforts and contributions to industrial science popularization, trend foresight, and technical analysis. Congratulations to him!