Development of a high resolution scanning RGB laser headlamp

Recent rapid progress in automotive lighting technology led to the emergence of headlamps featuring a large variety of light distributions that are highly adapted to provide best possible road illumination in particular traffic situations. Visual assistance systems which highlight relevant objects or project symbols to communicate with other traffic participants, further improve road safety. Implementing all these functions within a single headlamp usually requires the use of several additional modules with high and low resolution. This multitude of modules impacts the installation space, styling and cost of automotive headlamps. This paper presents a high-resolution red-green-blue (RGB) laser headlamp module which provides a good illumination of the road and can also be used for external communication purposes. A specially developed laser scanning unit, based on a bi-axial resonant micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) scanner and a high-power RGB laser, serves as the technical basis. Three module concepts are designed using light simulation, constructed as computer-aided design (CAD) models and integrated into a serial headlamp package. The concepts are based on design, simulation and measurement data of the scanning unit.