AD&P; > June 2014 > NOTABLE
14
Cameras for Safer
Off-Roading Concept
Anyone who has done any of-roading knows that one
of the issues related to the undertaking is that sometimes
it is exceedingly difcult to determine just what's ahead,
especially in situations when cresting on a hill and the
hood gets in the way of any notion of what's beyond.
Because Land Rover vehicles are sometimes taken of
road and because the company is implementing more
sensors in its vehicles, it has developed what they're
calling the "Transparent Bonnet"—with the last word
signifying "hood"—that it integrated on its Discovery
Vision Concept car.
Essentially, they're using cameras located in the vehicle's
grille to look down and forward at the surface ahead of
the vehicle. This is then integrated on a heads-up display
with information related to the angle and position of the
front wheels. It looks, in efect, as though the driver is
seeing through the hood.
Dr. Wolfgang Epple, director of Research and Technology
for Jaguar Land Rover, said, "We believe the next 25 years
will be the most exciting and dynamic the automotive
industry has ever experienced. There will be huge strides
in environmental innovation, in safety and capability.
"As our vehicles become more capable and autonomous
of-road, we will ensure the driver has the confdence
to allow the car to continue to progress, over any
q The cameras for the Transparent Bonnet are set to check the road directly ahead and below the vehicle,
not forward and further of, as is the case with cameras used for applications like lane departure warning.
p Look carefully at the bottom ¼ of the image and you
can see the tires represented on this heads-up display.
terrain. We are developing new technologies, including
the Transparent Bonnet, to give drivers an augmented
view of reality to help them tackle anything from the
toughest of-road route to the tight confnes of an urban
car park."
0614ADP Notable.indd 14 5/21/2014 12:54:38 PM