Electroluminescence Automotive Design Application

Abstract

Electroluminescence (EL) is a phenomenon of light emission from phosphor material when it is exposed to a strong electric field. In practice, EL lamps can be fabricated easily with screen printing method - depositing layers of inks on top of each other, with customized patterns possible. EL can be seamlessly embedded on various substrate materials, generating soft and homogeneous light. This project is cooperated with Toyota Motor Europe to explore how EL material can be applied in the automotive domain.

The proposed concept is targeting for vehicle to pedestrian communication in crosswalking scenarios, especially with regard to highly autonomous cars. The envisioned interaction process is divided into five stages: auto-driving mode, pedestrian detection, deceleration, transition and acceleration, by means of the animated lighting from the triangle patterns. Its key value lies in that pedestrians can cross the street with more confirmation and certainty instead of guessing driver intentions. In addition, it provides insights about how to shape the interaction between pedestrian and automated cars in the near future as an early exploration.