Let your brain "degenerate" and experience Audi's many forward-looking technologies

Automotive technology is always developing at a speed that people can't imagine. Ensuring the safety of vehicles and passengers as much as possible is an important theme in today's vehicle development. One of the purposes of investing heavily in the research and development of high technology is to serve safety. Perhaps hundreds of millions of drivers around the world have realized the importance of ESP at critical moments. This can be understood as the result of the marriage of technology and safety.

First-class car manufacturers are often leaders in safety and technology, rather than followers who lag behind legal enforcement. As one of the luxury car manufacturers, Audi has always been committed to research and exploration in the field of safety. I was also fortunate to visit the latest active safety technology demonstration of Audi in Germany. After watching it, I felt that the trip was worthwhile.

Traffic jam assistance (low-speed active cruise control + lane keeping system)

Features: Suitable for automatic following in congested environments, the vehicle can be completely stopped

Active cruise control (ACC) has become more and more familiar to car owners. The driver can set the distance from the vehicle in front by himself, and the vehicle will automatically accelerate or brake to maintain the distance. There are currently two types of lane keeping functions. One is that the vehicle automatically detects the driving lane and gives a steering wheel vibration or sound prompt when deviating, which is relatively passive. The second is to actively correct the steering wheel to ensure that the vehicle is driving in the correct lane. The latter is used in this Audi model. Combining active cruise control and active lane keeping constitutes today's system.

◆ What is the difference between it and Volkswagen CC's lane keeping + active cruise control?

At this point, you may have a question. The top-end model of Volkswagen CC can also actively intervene in the steering wheel to adjust the angle in the state of active cruise. The difference between the two cars is that the system of Audi models is designed for urban traffic jams, that is, the vehicle can be completely stopped and restarted, while Volkswagen CC must be started at a speed greater than 30km/h. This also means that the system has reached a mature stage and can be applied.

● Parking Guidance System

Features: Automatic parking via remote control, especially suitable for situations where the parking space is narrow and it is inconvenient to get off the car

Parking has always been a headache for many friends, especially for novices, who often have to go in and out several times. After finally parking, they find that the garage and parking space are too narrow to get out. This technology of Audi is designed to solve this problem. From now on, parking will become easy. If you don't believe it, take a look.

There is still a lot of room for this technology to be developed. In addition to automatic parking, Audi envisions that the vehicle can automatically drive to the driver's side after leaving the garage, and is currently working towards this goal. This system is expected to be applied to mass-produced vehicles before 2015. The pure technical development does not take that long, but it still needs to pass the EU's strict approval and safety certification before it can be used.

◆ Can the vehicle be reversed into the garage?

Not yet, but this is not a problem, it’s just that this function has not been added yet.

● Trailer Assist

拖车目前在国内还几乎没有，但这在欧洲很流行，德国公路上甚至经常能见到奥迪A6、A7这样级别的豪华轿车后面也挂着拖车。带拖车倒车是非常困难的，除了方向要反打之外，与车体的角度还必须不能过大，即便是直线倒车方向盘也需要不断的修正，转弯就更不用说了。想体验的朋友可以玩一玩《欧洲卡车模拟》的游戏。不过，上述问题在奥迪这套新系统上都是浮云。

This system will greatly reduce the difficulty of reversing a trailer, which is very practical for Europeans, and can be installed as long as the vehicle has a reversing radar. At present, this system is relatively mature and has the ability to be mass-produced. It will be released in Europe as an optional configuration of Audi in the near future.

● Door opening warning system

Have you ever had the experience of neglecting to look at the rearview mirror when you opened the door after parking your car, and being startled by a speeding vehicle? No kidding, this is a very dangerous action, and many tragedies happen at this moment. In order to avoid such situations as much as possible, Audi has developed a warning system.

If it is only at this stage, the system is already mature, but Audi needs to further strengthen it, such as adding sound prompts, or providing reverse resistance when opening the door to prevent danger. However, these issues are still under consideration and discussion, and there is no final discussion result yet. The staff said that after the system is perfected, it may be applied to all four doors.

◆ Is it possible in the future to have a design that completely prevents car doors from opening?

It is impossible. For the purpose of escaping in an emergency.

● Reversing warning system

If you drive straight into a parking space, it is very likely to be dangerous when you reverse out. I have also seen that most people drive in this way in large parking lots in Munich. The reversing warning system developed by Audi is tailor-made for this situation.

It has become an optional configuration for Audi. If you are willing, you can install such a reminder system at any time, but this service is not yet available in China.

There is another situation. If you are reversing with the direction, the system will determine whether the vehicle going straight behind you will interfere with you. If it calculates that there will be no impact, the system will not give any prompts. From this point of view, this system is still very smart and intelligent.

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● Intersection assistance system

To achieve the perfect effect, this system needs to be connected to Audi's Car-to-Car system. When approaching an intersection, the vehicle will use the Car-to-Car system to detect whether there is a lateral vehicle on the main road. If there is a vehicle, an arrow will be displayed on the instrument panel.

This is also a design in the research and development stage. After all, it is still a long way from the popularization of Car-to-Car. In other words, if it is used at this stage, the first step of the dashboard car reminder will not be available, which will reduce the design expectations of the system. However, car networking will be a trend in the future.

● Vehicle collision avoidance system

This system is a collision avoidance system for any speed. It detects what will happen in the next 3 seconds at the current speed and senses whether it can avoid obstacles by turning sharply. If the system thinks it is impossible to avoid a collision within 3 seconds, it will automatically apply full brakes to avoid a collision. In other words, under the same conditions, the braking point of the vehicle is different when it is traveling at 60km/h and 80km/h, and the braking point at 80km/h will be earlier.

In actual experience, the system can almost completely avoid collisions. I still remember the scene of automatic braking at a speed of 60km/h. Compared with Volvo, Audi's technology can theoretically work at any speed. Because it was raining and the road was slippery that day, there were several very slight contacts with the car in front, but this has reduced the risk of collision to almost 0. Of course, it is only a prototype now, and perhaps the subsequent development will take more factors such as weather into consideration to achieve a more complete protection effect.

● Audi pre sense City

I don't know how to translate these words perfectly, but the basic meaning is a predictive system for cities. The system provides safeguards against possible dangers below 65km/h, and it warns the driver through short braking. If the driver does not respond, the system will apply full braking about 1 second before the collision, thereby reducing the impact speed by 30km/h.

Pedestrians crossing the road is a common occurrence in cities, and the system can detect objects and pedestrians within a range of 20 meters. If the sensors report a dangerous situation, such as a pedestrian walking into the road, the system will decide whether full braking is necessary.

You may ask, why do we adjust the tightness of the seat belts at the moment of collision? Should we loosen them? The answer is yes. Audi technicians said that in low- and medium-speed collisions, reasonable seat belt tension can provide more effective protection instead of simply tightening the seat belts. For example, loosening the belts is to allow passengers to have more contact with the airbags. All of this is automatically determined by the computer before the collision.

● Audi lighting technology

"You can tell whether it is an Audi by looking at the daytime running lights, and you can tell what kind of car it is by looking at the different shapes," said an Audi lighting engineer proudly. The importance of lights in improving nighttime driving safety is self-evident. Audi has been at the forefront of the automotive industry in the field of headlights, not only in terms of stunning design, but also in terms of technology that is still ahead of other manufacturers and can be put into practical use. During this trip, Audi also showed us its lighting technology.

Let's first take a look at the headlight structure of two Audi models. The following pictures show the headlights of the Q3 and A7. In China, only the top-end A8 W12 model uses LED lighting technology, but it can be optional on the A6 and A7 overseas.

All Audi models have LED daytime running lights as standard (the domestic version of the A3 is not yet), while LED headlights are still in the development and popularization stage. What needs to be improved is the heat dissipation technology of LED headlights. Although the heat dissipation of LED lighting itself is not high, it is very sensitive to temperature rise. When the temperature is high, the lighting efficiency will be significantly reduced. Therefore, in addition to developing new lighting technology, Audi also needs to continue to innovate and develop heat dissipation.

◆ Audi's new lighting technology achievements

Audi showed us the new generation of lighting technology they developed, which is not just a change in the lighting medium, but has become more intelligent and humane.

◆ Adaptive headlights + sliding range adjustment

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Adaptive headlights are a mature technology at this stage, and have been used in high-end models of Audi A6, A7 and A8. They are a type of enhanced xenon headlights, which can achieve a more reasonable illumination area under different road conditions by rotating the xenon lamp group. This is an all-weather headlight, so it is not surprising if you don't see fog lights on a model equipped with this lamp group.

At present, adaptive headlights have realized the function of sliding lighting range, that is, the illumination height will never be higher than the lights of the vehicle in front (including headlights and taillights), thereby effectively avoiding glare to the driver of the vehicle in front and ensuring safety of night driving.

◆ LED matrix beam---non-dazzling high beam

Audi is taking this "sliding lighting" technology a step further and has developed a new gadget called LED matrix beam. This system is achieved by integrating multiple LEDs in the light group and is currently in the conceptual stage.

LED matrix lighting arranges many LED bulbs in the car lights and can individually control the opening and closing of some light groups. Therefore, the lights can be "cut" vertically, and the "cut" will change with the changes of the opposite light point. Compared with the sliding lighting introduced above, LED matrix lighting is more flexible. The editors present during the demonstration were also amazed by this new technology, but this is only the first step in LED matrix lighting.

With the help of road recognition and night vision systems, the vehicle can automatically detect road signs or pedestrians, and will allocate a separate beam of light to illuminate them to improve nighttime recognition. For pedestrians, it will automatically illuminate them three times to remind pedestrians and drivers to pay attention to safety. This is the brilliance of LED matrix lights, and new functions will be developed and applied in the future.

◆ Intelligent taillight

Have you ever encountered a situation where you were driving in the city at night and the taillights of the car in front of you were too bright (especially some LED taillights) for you to see clearly? I have encountered it at least. The glaring red light is very uncomfortable for the eyes, especially when there is a traffic jam or the car is moving slowly. Audi's smart taillight was born to solve this situation.

The smart taillights will automatically adjust the brightness of the taillights according to road conditions, vehicle speed, weather and other factors, to avoid the brightness being too high and affecting the driving of the following vehicles. If necessary, the brightness of the left and right taillights can also be automatically adjusted separately. However, the system is still in the research and development stage and will not be put into mass production for the time being.

◆ Laser fog lights

Heavy fog is one of the main causes of major accidents. Audi's latest laser fog lights can help following vehicles detect themselves in time. It is achieved by installing a red laser transmitter at the rear of the vehicle.

The laser beam is emitted downward at a certain angle to ensure that it does not directly shine into the human eye. When turned on in normal state, there is nothing unusual except that there are two bars projected on the ground behind. However, in rainy and foggy days, it will become a triangular bright warning sign tilted towards the road. It is easier to be found than traditional fog lights and has stronger penetration. Laser fog lights will not be put into use immediately because the technology is relatively new and has to undergo various safety assessments by the European Union. It is still in the conceptual stage.

◆ Wipe effect turn signal lamp

The "wiping action" turn signal is designed to send an unambiguous signal to the surrounding environment. Current turn signals sometimes fail to do this, such as when the vehicle is partially obscured or the turn signal fails, and the driver of the following vehicle may not be able to tell whether the vehicle in front is about to turn or turn on the hazard warning lights.

Audi has developed a smarter turn signal. When the driver activates the turn signal, the lights form a "wiping" motion from the inside to the outside, conveying a clear message that can be clearly seen and understood even from a distance. This signal is emitted by a LED horizontal light group that is powered sequentially.

◆ OLED technology

Unlike the currently used LEDs, which are composed of semiconductor crystals, OLEDs are made of organic materials and are currently widely used in MP3 players. When electricity is applied, the molecules in the paste emit photons, and the OLED plane is lit up. By adjusting the distribution of the power input, the lighting effect can be uniform, or it can produce light and dark effects, or even dynamic effects.

OLED has many advantages. It is a display screen in itself, and can flexibly create and design the style of "light group", and even dynamic effects. However, the technology is still far from mass production, because the technology of OLED itself is not very mature, and it is even more distant to use it in cars.

● Wire control technology

Wire control technology is not uncommon in current vehicles, ranging from air conditioning control knobs to electronic throttles and electronic gearshift levers. To put it simply, wire control technology is to abandon pure mechanical linkage and "remotely control" operations by sending electronic signals. Currently, technologies such as electronic throttles are very mature, but Audi has made a bold idea to apply wire control technology to steering and braking, and it was first installed on the Audi A2 electric concept car that debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Although Audi has repeatedly emphasized that the wire-controlled steering and braking will be heavily protected, this indirect transmission method still makes people worry. However, since Audi does this, there must be a reason for it.

Advantages of steer-by-wire: 1. It is more convenient to switch between left and right rudders; 2. The position layout of the steering mechanism is more flexible; 3. The steering wheel is more flexible to adjust; 4. When active steering is working, the steering wheel and the steering mechanism are temporarily separated; 5. The settings of steering feedback, steering ratio, etc. are more arbitrary; 6. Reduce the chance of injury in a collision (no steering column)

Advantages of wire control braking: 1. More flexible distribution of braking force on different wheels; 2. Shortened pedal travel to optimize space

Of course, these two technologies are still a long way from practical application. After all, the reliability and reaction time of wire control technology for steering and braking will need to be more fully guaranteed. Audi said that wire control will not make the traditional road feel disappear, and the motor simulates vibration to achieve a similar or identical effect.

● Summary of the full text

As mechanical performance gradually matures, high technology will become one of the research and development focuses of vehicles in the future. The above exhibits are Audi's latest achievements in safety and technology. Are you surprised or amazed? In any case, safety is the unchanging theme in vehicle development, and more and more high technology will serve it.