Ams Osram and Fraunhofer win German innovation award
Germany’s president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has presented the Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2024 prize to team of experts from Ams Osram and Fraunhofer IZM for their implementation of an LED matrix that turns car headlights into projectors.
As part of their Digital Light project, Norwin von Malm and Stefan Grötsch from Ams Osram and Hermann Oppermann from Fraunhofer IZM. and their teams, completely rethought intelligent LED technology and established a basic technology that enables numerous new applications, beyond car headlights.
The new system allows car headlights, for example, to illuminate the road ahead precisely and brightly without blinding or endangering oncoming traffic or pedestrians. A conventional low-beam/high-beam combination is not an option here because it must be possible to control the light’s spatial distribution and for the light itself to adapt to the respective situation.
To achieve this, the new headlight does not use two light sources like conventional headlights. Instead, it relies on 25,600 LEDs in a matrix of 320 x 80 points, where each individual LED can be controlled with a digital signal. In combination with a special lens, this creates a headlight that works much like a video projector.
The new system requires minimal installation space and is highly efficient since only the LEDs that are actually required for the desired light distribution are switched on.
Systems with passive light modulation, by contrast, rely on shading, meaning that the light source is always on at full power, and the undesired light is filtered back out. However, this is an inefficient solution, since it involves generating unnecessary light. Furthermore, the generated heat must be dissipated, which requires large and expensive cooling systems. The new system prevents these losses from occurring in the first place.
To increase safety, Ams Osram and Fraunhofer have come up with something extra. Their headlight also acts as a projector and can project pictograms onto the road, e.g., a snowflake if there is a risk of frost or a specific symbol for wrong-way drivers.
The team thinks that light-based information opens up many new use cases for their matrix. Examples include optical data communication between computer chips, e.g., in data centres for AI applications, or augmented reality (AR).
Awarded annually since 1997, the Deutscher Zukunftspreis is one of the most prestigious accolades for scientific achievement in Germany and includes 250,000 euros in prize money. It celebrates outstanding achievements in the fields of technology, engineering, and science that result in products that are ready for applied use.
Each year, a jury goes through a multi-stage process to select three research teams and their innovative idea from a wide range of projects. These three teams proceed to the final round, the 'circle of the best''. In addition to innovation, the jury also evaluates the economic and social potential of the project. This is the tenth time that Fraunhofer has been awarded the Deutscher Zukunftspreis, with Fraunhofer IZM receiving the prize for the first time.
