The new Volvo (Gothenburg, Sweden) S60, V60 and XC60 - shown to the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show - can be fitted with an active high beam control system that makes driving in the dark safer and more comfortable.
When an oncoming car approaches a car fitted with the system, it helps to prevent dazzling the driver of that car by shading out part of the light from the high beam.
To do so, the active high beam control system uses a camera located by the rear-view mirror at the top of the windshield to capture images of oncoming vehicles. The data is transferred to a control unit which then calculates the size of the area in front of the headlamp that needs to be obscured to prevent dazzling.
The control unit then relays the information to a mechanism integrated into the headlamp which shades out a specific area by moving pieces of metal of different sizes in front of the headlamp.
The active high beam control is active at speeds down to 9mph. It will be available in the Volvo S60, V60 and XC60 from spring 2013.
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-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design
