The HELLA panel enables an attractive appearance, whether by day or by night, with the possibility to make the design flexible to meet requirements, from different color variants or metallization. HELLA gives the panel an attractive appearance by using different manufacturing processes, as surface decoration via painting or foil inmoulding.
At night, decorated areas are becoming light outcoupling areas, so structures and animations are visible. By day, a metallic appearance comes into play and the light apertures are barely visible – light from nowhere.
Besides legal functions, a lot is possible in terms of design: “Welcome and Goodbye” functions, as well as large surface illumination, but also slim light lines and smaller geometries. In addition, the electronic concept allows the control of more than 200 individual LEDs, which enables personalization and future communication applications for autonomous vehicles.
Such panel concepts can be easily customized, for example for different model variants, by simply adapting the design or styling of the surface. This eliminates the need for costly tool adjustments, which means that the investment pays off more quickly for car manufacturers. One light source for different stylings!
In addition to the design aspect, the panel serves as protection for sensitive systems such as parking assistants or automatic distance control via radar and lidar. If desired, the panel can also be heated, which ensures reliable functionality even in bad weather. This aspect is becoming increasingly important, especially with regard to autonomous driving.
The plug-and-play approach allows car manufactures more easily assembly in the vehicle by integration of sensors like radar, lidar, camera. With the introduction of the multifunctional panel, the integration of sensors also allows fewer connection points, which reduces the tolerance chain of the product and gives us more reliable sensor performance.
