Automotive lighting is integral to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. V2X reflects different elements of communications systems in cars and the intricate web of connectivity that enables them to exchange data with the surrounding environment. Lighting and other means through which vehicles “communicate” information are fundamental to road safety and will play an increasingly important role in the future of mobility.
What is Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Communication?
V2X is a system that relies on sensors, cameras, lighting, and different communication networks. It allows cars to share information with or receive it from infrastructure and other road users.
V2X holds promise for increasing road safety, reducing traffic incidents, and optimizing traffic efficiency and flow. It includes the following “vehicle-to” communications technologies:
Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V): V2V communication facilitates direct information exchange between cars. This can include data on the speed, position, and direction of other cars on the road.
Vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P): Vehicle communication with pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users such as school children.
Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I): Vehicles interact with infrastructure elements like traffic signals, road signs, and embedded sensors.
Vehicle-to-cloud (V2C): This is when vehicles connect to broader communication networks such as cellular or Wi-Fi. Cars can access live traffic updates, weather, and route suggestions.
What are the Benefits of V2X Communication?
V2X helps enhance driver perception and safety by allowing vehicles to share real-time information about road conditions. The technology paves the way for autonomous driving, allowing automated vehicles to capture information, adapt, and improve reaction capabilities through continuous data sharing.
For both human drivers and self-driving vehicles, some of the potential applications for and perceived benefits of V2X include:
Obstacle detection: Cars with sensors and/or cameras could detect road debris and communicate the danger to nearby vehicles.
Predictive collision avoidance: Cars share speed, position, and direction data to detect potential collisions and adjust movements. If a car ahead brakes suddenly, nearby vehicles could receive alerts to adjust speed and maintain safe distances.
Circumstantial awareness: Real-time connections enhance drivers’ awareness in particular circumstances, helping to prevent accidents and optimize traffic flow. This could include information about approaching emergency vehicles, pedestrians, hidden obstacles, or blind spots.
Traffic optimization: Vehicles can obtain V2I data about traffic signals, speed restrictions, and potential dangers. V2I can also improve traffic signal timings and overall transportation efficiency, thereby helping to reduce overall traffic congestion.
Safe and efficient travel: Vehicle-to-cloud/network (V2C/N) communication can facilitate safer and more informed travel. Cars can receive live traffic data and adjust routes accordingly.
These applications could help enhance safety for a variety of road users. For example, cars could receive location and movement data from pedestrians' devices, such as smartphones or wearable sensors. V2X technology could trigger alerts that proactively warn drivers when pedestrians are near crosswalks or about to cross the street.
V2X driving technology could further support safety by enabling cars to automatically slow down when pedestrians are detected. Cars might also spot potholes or other hazards with onboard cameras and sensors. Data input from these tools could trigger light or sound alerts to warn other drivers and potentially provide more windows of opportunity to maneuver and avoid dangers.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) systems also assist drivers and enhance reaction times. Examples include advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that work in conjunction with electronic stability control (ESC) to provide automatic emergency braking functions.
V2X technology has the potential to provide valuable input for ADAS and support overall safer navigation of road situations and enable cars to take independent preventive action. For example, such functionality might include systems that help prevent the running of red lights that could cause dangerous accidents in intersections.
Atala Automotive OLED Technology and the Future of V2X
Atala is OLEDWorks’ automotive OLED technology. It offers highly segmented OLED lighting for superior communication that can complement V2X technology and help improve road safety.
Atala OLED panels can have tens, hundreds, or thousands of individually addressable, software-controlled segments. These extremely uniform segments have crisp, high contrast edges and narrow, inconspicuous gaps to provide homogenous light signatures. This allows for the display of a range of distinctive symbols that capture drivers’ attention quickly and help with response to changing road conditions. The below image demonstrates this capability in an Atala OLED panel that shows a snowflake symbol to warn other drivers of snowy and icy conditions ahead.
Communicable, adaptive, and flexible Atala OLED panels also wrap light around the rear of the vehicle, which increases the likelihood that other road users will see a car (and its messaging). This feature improves overall safety communication by expanding the viewing angle and more accurately displaying a vehicle’s width—a crucial feature not only for cars but also for narrow-bodied motorcycles on the road.
Atala’s dynamic, display-like lighting can signal intentions and assert presence in changing road environments by:
Integrating with stationary car proximity indication features to quickly catch rear-approaching drivers’ attention.
Communicating road hazards or when road conditions change, such in the case of ice and snow.
Conveying specific symbols to rear-approaching road users—alone or in combination with sound alerts—when a car prepares to stop at a crosswalk.
These are but a few of Atala’s current capabilities for conveying crucial information to a variety of road users. The future of Atala OLED lighting will continue to evolve as additional colors, shapes, and segments become available, expanding integration options within vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology.
Atala OLEDs have also undergone and passed rigorous reliability testing by world-leading OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. This robust technology is a game-changer in automotive lighting, well-suited for V2X communications and poised to help shape the future of smarter mobility.
Learn more about how communicable and adaptive Atala OLED lighting is meeting evolving automotive demands.