According to foreign media reports, the race for fully automatic driving continues, bringing unprecedented challenges and opportunities to the automotive industry. Although the industry has not yet achieved full automatic driving, the technology to promote full automatic driving has been running on highways for many years. At present, most cars are equipped with blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning and parking assistance, and enhance safety and driver assistance functions. All these functions will prompt the automotive industry to adopt and accept fully automatic driving vehicles.
With the development of autopilot, BASF, the leading chemical supplier in the automotive industry, is considering how to make use of materials and research solutions to supplement and promote the technology of automatic driving which has been listed and is in the process of research and development. The following are 5 contributions that materials can make to the safety and design of self driving cars:
1. protect auto driving vehicle sensors so that vehicles can "see".
If the sensor is the eye of a self driving car, the plastic case is its goggles. The safety of self driving cars depends on the accuracy of sensors and cameras. Environmental factors such as high temperature, high humidity and deicing salts can damage the plastic shell of sensors and cameras. Once such materials are destroyed, the resolution and sensor readings will be affected, thus affecting vehicle performance.
Basf provides a range of materials to protect the integrity of such sensitive components. It provides short-range and long-range radar compatible plastics with dimensional stability and hydrolysis resistance, which can protect radar from environmental impact.
2. Use advanced pigments and innovative coatings to make cars "visible"
Basf chemical experts are studying how to increase the visibility of vehicle coatings, especially dark coatings that are difficult to identify by lidar systems. At present, dark pigments used in automobiles absorb wavelengths related to lidar and radar, resulting in inaccurate reading of self driving cars. BASF is developing a pigment that can replace carbon black pigments, which can improve reflectivity and produce dark coatings that can be detected by lidar systems.
3. Build comfortable, clean and quiet interior of driverless car
BASF forecasts that most of the future self driving vehicles will take two forms: one is a private high-end car that can be used as a living room or office, the other is a network car provided by mobile travel service companies.
For luxury cars, automakers can use high-quality materials to improve the overall texture of the car. BASF has introduced a special coating technology, valure, which can be applied by automobile manufacturers to improve vehicle durability and create a soft texture. As cars expand into homes, air quality standards should also be improved at the same time. Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) polyurethane can be used to ensure low emissions, thus ensuring that the air quality in the car remains at ** level.
Vehicle cleaning is the most important problem for networking vehicles. Constantly used robotic taxis can use antimicrobial, dust-proof and easy-to-clean materials.
The above two kinds of automatic driving vehicles require noise, vibration and ride comfort (NVH) solutions. Once the passenger no longer controls the vehicle, the engine or the road bumps will make more obvious sound. Therefore, professional NVH solutions are needed to reduce interference.
4. Lightweight solutions offset the added weight of technology and personalization features
The technology needed to power driverless cars increases the weight of the vehicle, and since drivers no longer need to drive, such vehicles may be equipped with more and more customized components to optimize the passenger experience, thus adding more weight to the vehicle. Lightweight materials can help offset the weight added by technology and personalized components without sacrificing vehicle performance.
Ford used Basf's technology to help reduce the weight of its Lincoln Continental 30-way seat. The cushions, backs, pillows, upper backs, thighs and supporting timber at the bottom of the seat are adjustable to meet individual specifications and provide ** comfort. Basf's solution reduces the weight of the seat panel by 20%, thereby reducing the weight of the entire seat system by 8%.
5. Develop a more durable battery with fast charging capability
Most fully self-driving concept cars are equipped with electric drive systems, which increase the demand for smart battery materials and fast charging capability. Basf Battery Material Department has invested a lot of money in the research and development of battery materials to meet the challenges of battery range, size, weight and charging time faced by the industry.
