TU-TESL

• 22

Four OLED screens, two exterior cameras, one interior head detection camera, plus a set of ar-view system with intelligent software algorithm, the driver can directly see the road conditions behind the A-pillar through the interior screen, thus eliminating the blind area of vision brought by the a pillar. This is the "transparent" A-pillar, the innovative design of Nezha u, the second mass-produced car. The transparent "A-pillar" design breaks the long-standing design mode of the car A-pillar. Before this, although we tried to remove the blind area of A-pillar's field of vision by refracting materials or hollowing, these technologies have not been mass-produced yet. Continental group launched a "virtual" A-pillar technology similar to Nezha u plan in 2018, and so far, there is no official announcement of mass production. Since the world's top auto parts suppliers can't mass produce, why can Nezha u? Try to "punch through" A-pillar. Usually, a car will have A-pillar, B-pillar and C-pillar designs, and some models will also have D-pillar. These structures are used to support the strength of the car. Among them, A-pillar refers to the connecting pillar connecting the roof and the front cabin at the front left and right of the vehicle. Because it is close to the driver and the copilot, this part of the structure is very important for the safety of the vehicle. The function of A-pillar is mainly for anti-collision, but it also blocks the driver's vision, which is a natural contradiction. Especially in the low-speed driving state, when the vehicle turns left, the impact is greater, and sometimes even causes accidents. In order to reduce this risk, car companies and suppliers began to try to optimize the design of A-pillar. The main optimization ideas of the industry are as follows: first, Toyota A-pillar refracting material patent uses the principle of physical refraction light to make A-pillar "transparent". "This technology requires cameras, as well as some expensive materials and equipment, so it has not been put into practical use," Toyota said in a patent filing. But now, Toyota's patented device has reduced costs. Second, change the modeling design of A-pillar to achieve the effect of punching through A-pillar. Volvo has put forward the design of hollow out, through the hollow out inside the A-pillar to achieve a grid like entity, to achieve the observation of the road conditions outside the A-pillar. Third, the virtual A-pillar technology of continental group realizes "virtualization" of A-pillar through camera, display screen and other technologies. Continental has released a "virtual A-pillar" technology, which is mainly based on the vehicle's look around camera and the OLED display embedded in the A-pillar, so that drivers can observe the external environment of the vehicle in real time through the OLED screen. At the same time, the mainland's plan also provides a dynamic perspective by monitoring the driver's head movements. The above technical ideas are very novel, but in the end, they did not achieve mass production. So, the optional price is 12000 yuan. How does Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar realize mass production and boarding? In fact, Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar solution is similar to that of continental. Its hardware includes elements such as OLED screens and cameras. At the software level, it carries a system called ar view. Behind it is a set of intelligent software algorithms. It can be seen that four OLED screens are installed inside the A-pillar, two on the left and two on the right, and a HD camera is installed outside the vehicle on the left and right to collect the external information blocked by the A-pillar. There is a camera above the center of the steering wheel to detect the movement of the driver's head. Finally, through software algorithm, OLED screen can reflect real-time road condition information outside A-pillar and realize the "transparent" effect of A-pillar, so as to avoid blind area of vision. Specific to the use link, "transparent" A-pillar will automatically switch on and off according to the speed, and the system will automatically start when driving at low speed. At this time, the driver can observe the blind area information of A-pillar in real time through the OLED screen in the car, and the system will automatically turn off when driving at high speed. Behind the hardware device, it also involves the AR view system and algorithm at the software level. From the existing information, the "transparent" A-pillar function of Nezha u adopts AR technology and eyebrow center algorithm. In Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar function, the AR view system collects the information outside the vehicle in real time through the HD camera, and displays the information on the internal OLED screen. It is worth noting that in order to ensure the smoothness of the picture, the system adopts the strategy of reducing the definition of the picture. The "transparent" A-pillar adopts the eyebrow center algorithm, that is, the camera installed on the steering wheel is used to detect the movement position of the driver's eyebrow center, so as to automatically adjust the viewing angle of OLED screen. Simply understand, this "transparent A-pillar" is actually an AR technology. The principle is to install the OLED flexible screen inside the A-pillar, and work through the external camera and software algorithm. The mystery lies in a set of "eyebrow center algorithm", which can track the driver's eyes through the camera, calculate the position of the eyebrow center, so as to confirm the perspective angle of A-pillar display screen and display it in real time. But unfortunately, although Nezha u has been listed, the "transparent A-pillar" has not been opened for selection. That means consumers can't use the technology right away. AR technology and OLED technology are maturing. On the whole, behind Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar, it reflects the maturing of AR and OLED technology. AR, also known as augmented reality, seamlessly connects real world information with virtual world through multimedia, 3D modeling and other technologies. This technology rose in the 1990s, and then it was widely used in medical, education and entertainment fields. In recent years, it also began to appear in the automotive field, such as the AR driving technology released by zebra intelligent travel. The realization of A-pillar transparency is still inseparable from the maturity of eyebrow center algorithm. Eyebrow center algorithm belongs to the branch of DMS driver monitoring technology. In ADAS market, the technology of monitoring eye movement to achieve DMS has been mature, and it has been widely used in vehicles. The principle of the eyebrow center algorithm is to locate the actual coordinates of the driver's "eyebrow center", calculate the visual blind area, and adjust the external camera image corresponding to the visual blind area to achieve better transparent A-pillar or HUD fusion control effect. In addition, it has become a standard configuration for many car companies to carry OLED screens on the car. Some new car building forces, such as byton, even carry 48 Inch large screens. Audi e-tron also has plans to configure OLED screens. UBI research, a well-known market research institution, expects OLED screens to occupy 10% of the automotive display market by 2020. The area of four OLED screens of Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar is about 24 inches in total. Although it is only to observe the external conditions of the vehicle, the requirements for clarity will not be as good as that of the central control screen, but the cost is not cheap. However, for products such as "transparent" A-pillar, some insiders have expressed their concerns to the automotive industry. They think that although the design is cool, there are also some shortcomings: Nezha U's "transparent" A-pillar internal OLED The screen will adjust the brightness of the screen with the intensity of the external light, which to some extent avoids the problem of disturbing the driver's vision. However, for the risk of glass fracture after collision, it has not yet seen how the protection behind is realized. The emergence of Nezha U "transparent" A-pillar is essentially that the automotive industry is adopting software algorithms to change the automotive hardware. It is not only an attempt in the field of active safety, but also an attempt to transform the safety and driving comfort of intelligent cockpit. So, following this idea, will transparent A-pillar be popularized?