With an expanding suite of advanced driver assistance systems being developed for consumer vehicles, engineering design teams need to account for an increasing number of complex scenarios that could affect the accuracy and functionality of their products. Unfortunately, this can make traditional prototyping and physical testing expensive and time-consuming with the large number of complex situations that need to be evaluated. Simulation software can help companies overcome this research and development hurdle by accelerating early-phase testing prior to the validation of physical prototypes.

Recently, Ford teamed up with the software company Ansys to develop simulations of its predictive smart headlight technology. The new headlights will help improve nighttime and low-light driving in consumer vehicles.

“The predictive lighting technology we are developing now means that one day driving in the dark could be as simple as just following your headlights,” said Michael Koherr, an advanced lighting research engineer at Ford of Europe. “This new map- and location‑based system is the next step on our quest to make driving at night no more difficult or stressful as during the day.”

Nighttime conditions make it hard for drivers to respond to wildlife, pedestrians and sudden turns or changes in the road conditions. To help improve vehicle safety and increase low-light visibility, Ford is working on a headlight system that will use real-time location data to direct headlight beams into upcoming turns. The new system will help increase driver visibility around dark corners and improve responses to hazards.

The intelligent system incorporates vehicle trajectory and speed data to adjust the direction of headlights toward upcoming curves, even before a driver is aware of a change in the road condition. If location data or GPS signal is not available, the system is designed to use in-vehicle camera- and steering-based information to intelligently light the road until a signal returns.

However, its new system needs to be able to respond to many different scenarios. To test all possible hazards and conditions, the company would need to build and modulate many prototypes and put each consecutive technology through rigorous and expensive nighttime tests.

Thanks to Ansys AVxcelerate Headlamp simulation software, Ford engineers can use a realistic virtual night-driving experience to test its technology before moving to expensive, outdoor validations. The insights gained through the virtual testing can then inform engineering design efforts before physical headlamps are built and tested, increasing the speed and decreasing the cost of development efforts.

“The predictive accuracy of Ansys simulations yields a variety of significant benefits for our team, from being able to engineer for edge case scenarios to less late-night road tests,” Koherr said. “With the ability to truly gauge system performance in a virtual environment, we’re able to identify opportunities to improve our product well before entering the physical testing stage. Simulation has and will continue to play a critical role in our quest of making driving at night as safe and easy as during the day.”

Ford’s headlamp technology is being developed with the help of AVxcelerate Headlamp simulation software. With this virtual driving environment, engineers can use real-time optical simulation to validate early designs and test potential edge cases for a new product. The software can help engineers analyze their headlight performance, run preliminary regulation checks, perform driver-in-the-loop testing and identify issues early in the development process.

“Ford’s intelligent headlights represent an excellent case of how simulation, innovation and safety go hand-in-hand,” said Shane Emswiler, Ansys senior vice president of products. “With our solutions, engineers at Ford can quickly test its system under countless scenarios and lighting conditions to help ensure that the first physical prototype is in excellent working condition. Ultimately, that means Ford’s technology can spend less time as a concept and more time on the road, reducing accidents and saving lives.”

The simulation software includes a range of powerful capabilities. Its headlamp simulation creates digital prototypes to detect and analyze defects in beam patterns during early testing phases. With the pixel beam or matrix beam testing scenarios, engineers can assess multiple vehicles at once to generate and evaluate diverse situations simultaneously. This can include everything from oncoming traffic to crossroads, takeovers or obstructions in the roadway. The software can also adapt to various environments, including urban or rural settings.

For intelligent headlight systems, engineers can test their system control software using hardware-in-the-loop simulations. Using a C/C++ API or Simulink toolbox, engineers can develop intelligent lighting systems, such as the Ford cornering light adaptative system. Within the software, the simulation can control and evaluate pixel-level beam behavior.

A new user interface also makes it easy to evaluate the available sensors in the simulation software. Each physics-based sensor includes a detailed definition and validation rules to facilitate testing decisions. Self-contained export and import sensor models also improve the layout for multiple sensors being tested at once. Plus, new APIs are available to control the sensor simulation. Engineers can then collect the raw sensor outputs to support the research and development process.

In terms of safety tests, the simulation software can help engineers perform early regulation checks and assess glare to oncoming vehicles. The simulation can compare different light sources, such as halogen or LED, and measure the beam cut-off and light distribution patterns to meet regulation standards. The software can also virtually evaluate the rating of the headlamp system in accordance with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) standards. Engineers can automatically batch-test multiple configurations in a row to generate a report outlining the IIHS rating to facilitate optimization of the hardware and software. In terms of glare assessment, the software can assess how the intelligent lighting system could distract oncoming cars while optimizing lighting conditions for driver safety.

The software can additionally support Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Lane Support Systems (LSS) as part of the available simulation scenarios to assess all intelligent components of a vehicle in one virtual testing system.

Digital twins and other simulation software will be crucial for the development of advanced driver-assistance systems. With current headlight systems largely the same as they were 50 years ago, Ford is pushing the boundaries of smart headlight technology to meet the needs of modern drivers and improve road safety. Beyond low and high beams, intelligent headlight systems and other smart vehicle features will make way for a wave of new, safer vehicles for consumers. With Ansys simulation software, Ford accelerates this development process to help safer cars reach the market faster.

As intelligent headlight systems continue to be optimized, drivers will soon look forward to improved visibility at night, even in inclement weather or foggy conditions. Smart headlights will be incorporated with other popular intelligent features, such as lane assist and automatic braking, to help consumer cars approach autonomous functionality.