Photo: Philipp Mandler

Tesla has published a patent for the global headlamp as part of the further development of its products. This will allow the production of headlamps that will meet the requirements of different countries and will reduce the cost of producing different types of headlamps.

Headlamps, such as headlights on a front of a vehicle, are a major tool for improving the safety for those inside and outside the vehicle. Light from the vehicle’s headlamps allows for illumination of the world to enhance visibility for persons within the vehicle. In addition, the light allows the vehicle to be identified by people outside of it when it is moving. Thus, headlights have a dual purpose, which means they must be effective in various situations. For example, vehicle headlights can emit asymmetrical light to illuminate moving vehicles and pedestrians, greatly minimizing oncoming traffic glare.

In different countries or geographic regions, different regulatory bodies or standards development organizations determine the rules and requirements for vehicle headlights. Because of these differences in jurisdictions, global automotive companies produce different headlights that are jurisdiction specific, adding to cost and complexity of manufacturing.

Tesla filed for a "Global headlamp" patent on July 28, 2021, which was published on February 3, 2022. The patent describes an invention that allows headlights to be "universal" and customizable, allowing the company to produce headlights to a uniform standard and customize them to meet the requirements of different jurisdictions.

For example, in one embodiment, a computer-implemented method performed by a headlamp controller included in the vehicle is presented. The headlamp controller may be configured to control a headlamp of the vehicle by a method that includes: obtaining configuration information indicative of a jurisdiction associated with the vehicle; accessing headlamp state information comprising a plurality of headlamp states; determining a current headlamp state of the plurality of headlamp states based on the configuration information; and causing outputting, via a pixelated light source in the headlamp, of a propagation based on the current headlamp state, the propagation representing a particular beam pattern which is compliant with the jurisdiction.

In another embodiment, an automotive light distribution system is provided that meets the requirements of many jurisdictions. The system may include: a memory storing headlamp state information for a plurality of jurisdictions and a selection of a current jurisdiction; a controller that reads the selected current jurisdiction and the headlamp state information associated with the selected jurisdiction; and a plurality of emissive elements configured to output propagations that are compliant with the selected jurisdiction based on the headlamp state information.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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