Automotive Engineering - February 2022 - 12

CES 2022
TECHNOLOGY REPORT
SAFETY
Panasonic augments driver safety with new HUD tech
head movement behind the wheel and dynamically adjusts
and compensates the images in the 'eye box.' "
Drivers constantly shift their head and change their line of
sight, but with parallax alignment and dynamic autofocus
working together in the Panasonic HUD system, drivers will
see only accurately positioned, crisp, high-resolution overlays
and icons. The driver's experience is powered by AI
(Augmented Intelligence, a sub-category of artificial intelligence)
navigation software which intelligently matches the
changing environment with 3D AR overlays, icons and mapping,
providing an intuitive awareness of the situation and
surrounding environment. The 3D is simulated using a tilted,
dual-image plane - providing 3D at what Panasonic claims is
the cost of 2D.
As Poliak explained: " Today we are just mapping the virtual
world over the real world. "
Even in its latest iteration, AR HUD 2.0 is a benign technolPanasonic's
AR HUD expands the display viewing rectangle far beyond
the windshield, placing information into the driver's world (such as an
alert that a bicycle lane is approaching) that will enhance it.
At CES 2022 Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of
America unveiled AR HUD 2.0 (Augmented Reality Head-Up
Display 2.0), the first system to include a new, patented eyetracking
system (ETS).
If you've ever thought about what exists beyond the limits
of a HUD and the small rectangular box it displays on the
windshield, welcome to the world of AR. And note that AR is
not VR, Virtual Reality; VR is a space in which headsets or
special glasses allow the wearer to experience a 3D world that
doesn't exist except in this technology. It's increasingly used
in automotive interior design.
Panasonic's AR HUD expands that small viewing rectangle
far beyond the windshield out into the real world, placing information
into your world that will not change your world but
will enhance it. For example, it's raining and you can't see a
traffic light. AR can add that stop light to the field of view.
" 2.0, " explained Andrew Poliak, Panasonic Automotive
Systems Company of America's CTO, " is the patented ETS
technology that identifies the individual driver's height and
ogy. It is not connected to a vehicle's ADAS (advanced driverassistance
system). Instead, it enhances the driving experience
and helps drivers make more intelligent decisions regarding
navigation and safety related issues, the company said.
However, as the auto industry moves to more automated
driving, Panasonic's technology will evolve to integrate with a
vehicle's ADAS.
What makes Panasonic's AR HUD 2.0 technology different?
According to Hans Troemel Jr., the company's advanced engineering
vision & sensing group manager, " We are unique in
having experience right down to the component level with every
technology required to design these systems. Our breath
and our depth are a big advantage over the competition. "
Panasonic employs a user-experience group that surveys customers
for answers to such questions as, " How much and what
types of information do customers want displayed and when? "
" For example, " Troemel continues, " Driver distraction is a
major safety issue today. Based on feedback we've received,
we are starting to enable machine learning functions in the
vehicle so that the system learns what info the driver wants
displayed and when. Reducing the cognitive load is critical to
the driver. We can customize the experience for each driver.
" We've gotten a lot of good feedback from our user-experience
groups telling us that once you experience this technology,
you really don't want to go back. "
John Dinkel
PROPULSION
Unique Helmholtz induction for new GM LT6 V8
The 2023 Corvette Z06 recently arrived,
powered by a 5.5-L LT6 V8 spinning a
radical flat-plane crankshaft. Now that
additional engineering details have
12 February 2022
emerged, the LT6's top hat has supplanted
its crankshaft as this engine's
most interesting feature. That topper
- an active induction system - is capable
of filling this DOHC V8 with the
air needed to produce SAE-certified
670 hp (499 kW; 121.8 hp/L) at 8400
rpm without any kind of supercharging.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
PANASONIC
https://na.panasonic.com/us/automotive-solutions
Automotive Engineering - February 2022

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