How does the "black technology" of automotive glass change people's driving experience?

Breakthrough in the core technology of automotive glass

The core technology breakthrough of automotive glass, today mainly introduces three contents: one is electrochromic smart glass, the second is augmented reality windshield, and the third is glass integrated sensing system.

Electrochromic smart glass has the adjustability of light absorption and light transmission under the action of electric field, and can selectively absorb or reflect external heat radiation and internal heat diffusion. The technology was first developed by a research team at MIT in August 2016. The automatic anti-glare rearview mirror prepared based on this technology can adjust the intensity of reflected light according to the intensity of extraneous light, effectively prevent glare and improve driving safety. This technology has been applied to the portholes of Boeing 787s and panoramic canopies of new energy vehicles. The latest black EC smart dimming product has a maximum shading rate of 99.6% in the dark state, 99.99% in UV protection, and 97% in infrared light.

The augmented reality windshield solution will speed up, navigation, and moreCritical driving information, such as ADAS, is projected directly onto the front windshield and visualized in the driver's POV, allowing the driver to access information without lowering their head or looking away. At the same time, when the driver is focused on driving, the front passenger can access personalized information or entertainment content through the same windshield, which is completely invisible from the driver's point of view, which not only enriches the in-car experience, but also avoids interfering with driving. This design significantly improves safety and provides more possibilities for multimedia entertainment and information interaction in the car. What's more, in the context of the increasing pursuit of simplicity and lightweight in automotive design, this solution achieves seamless integration by compressing the thickness of the display module to less than 1 liter of volume, bidding farewell to the bulkiness of traditional car screens. This "invisible integration" not only makes the interior of the car more simple, but also provides unlimited imagination for the layout of the future intelligent cockpit.

The glass integrated sensing system will be an optical sensor"Invisible" embedded in the glass. The windshield can be transformed into an invisible camera, with more than 95% transparency to ensure accurate detection even in complex lighting environments, not only capturing the driver's facial expressions and monitoring status, but also capturing real-time external environmental data, linking with the ADAS system to improve perception accuracy. In addition to recording and monitoring the environment, the side window camera also supports intelligent interaction such as gesture recognition and augmented reality. The system can also determine cleanliness by monitoring changes in surface hydrophobic coating resistance, triggering a nanocoating regeneration program when the contact angle is greater than 110° to keep the glass clean. In addition, the 5G communication module is integrated with the window glass, using glass as the signal transmission medium, and millimeter-wave transparent antenna technology is used to realize 5G signal transmission at the edge of the windshield.
How glass is realized

Upgrade of car safety performance?
The safety performance of automobiles is very important, which is directly related to the life safety and health of drivers and passengers. A car with good safety performance can greatly reduce the risk of injury to people in the event of a traffic accident. So, how does glass upgrade automotive safety performance?

Automotive anti-fog and rainproof technology forms a super-hydrophilic film layer by coating nano-coatings on the surface of the glass, effectively preventing water vapor from adhering to it, keeping the glass clear and lasting for several years. At the same time, with sensors and control systems, the heating of the glass surface is realized through heating film technology, which can automatically adjust the working state according to the ambient temperature and humidity to prevent fog and rainwater from adhering.

The invention of tempered laminated glass can be called a milestone in the history of automotive glass. In the event of a collision, the PVB film in the sandwich can firmly bond the broken glass to prevent debris from flying and injuring people, greatly improving the safety of the vehicle. By implanting an elastomer microsphere matrix in the interlayer, the microsphere deforms and absorbs kinetic energy when subjected to impact, and laboratory data shows that it can disperse 75% of the impact energy, which is 300% higher than that of traditional laminated glass. Tempered glass undergoes a special heat treatment process, which is far stronger than ordinary glass and will shatter into small particles when impacted by external forces. Optimized tempering stress distribution through quantum-level computer simulation ensures that obtuse particles of less than 5 mm are generated upon rupture, reducing injury to drivers and passengers. Today, some high-end cars are also equipped with multi-layer composite glass with bulletproof functions to further escort the safety of the occupants in the car.

The automotive glass industry is guided by safety, comfort, energy saving, intelligence and product integration, and is committed to creating comfortable, safe and soulful automotive glass. Future automotive glass will have more innovative functions and technologies, greatly improving the driving experience and safety, and achieving seamless connection between people, cars and the world.

The application of head-up display (HUD) technology has transformed automotive glass from a simple visual barrier to an information interaction platform. It projects important driving information such as vehicle speed, navigation instructions, and vehicle status onto the front windshield, allowing the driver to access information without looking down at the dashboard, significantly improving driving safety and convenience.

More advanced augmented reality (AR) technology can perfectly integrate virtual information with real road conditions, providing drivers with more intuitive and accurate navigation guidance.

Sonic vibration can drive the hydrophobic coating on the glass surface to decompose water stains and dust, and with the ultraviolet sterilization module, the windows can maintain more than 90% light transmittance for a long time, reducing manual maintenance costs. At the same time, the hydrophobic coating on the surface of the glass is not easy to adhere to water droplets, rainwater will splash and will not remain, and the rearview mirror is not easy to fog up, effectively improving driving visibility in rainy days, clearer vision, and higher driving safety.

Currently, the global automotive glass market continues to boom and is expected to maintain steady growth in the coming years. However, there are also many challenges behind the prosperity of the industry. At the technical level, the rise of new energy vehicles and smart cars has put forward higher requirements for automotive glass, such as lightweight, high strength and intelligence.

In the future, the boundaries of glass smart materials will continue to break through, including materials that automatically repair scratches on glass surfaces through nanotechnology or microcapsule technology; Dynamic dimming glass that uses electrochromic or photochromic materials to achieve intelligent adjustment of light transmittance to improve comfort and privacy protection; Develop flexible display glass that can be bent and folded transparent conductive materials and combine flexible OLED or Micro-LED displays with automotive glass to achieve diversified and personalized information display.

Multi-technology integration and innovation will be an important direction, integrating 5G communication modules with window glass, using glass as a signal transmission medium to improve the communication speed and stability of the Internet of Vehicles. AR-HUD windshield uses the combination of augmented reality (AR) technology and high-precision projection system to directly project navigation, vehicle speed and other information directly onto the windshield to improve driving safety; By embedding high-efficiency solar power generation glass in the roof or side window glass, the conversion of solar energy to electric energy is realized, providing auxiliary power for the car and improving energy efficiency. The human-vehicle interaction interface is reconstructed, and the sensory revolution, ecological integration and safety leap of automobiles are realized by integrating touch, biometrics, and voice interaction in glass.

The human-vehicle interaction interface will also be reconstructed. By integrating touch, biometrics and voice interaction in the glass, the sensory revolution, ecological integration and safety leap of the car are realized. For example, the "ZEEKR OS 5.0" system of ZEEKR 007 realizes "seven-sense interaction" for the first time, transforming the cockpit into a multi-dimensional immersive space through eye tracking, gesture recognition, odor simulation and other technologies; When the system detects driver fatigue, it not only triggers an early warning, but also automatically adjusts the seat massage mode and plays refreshing music, extending the safety boundary from physical protection to physiological intervention.