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Source: Continental announcement
FRANKFURT — Continental has developed a head-up display (HUD) for trams. The display solution from the in-house development and production service provider Continental Engineering Services (CES) is aimed at making intra-urban traffic safer by ensuring that tram drivers can focus their full attention on what is happening on the road.
This also enables, for instance, a reduction in the number of emergency braking maneuvers. Trams mostly operate in heavy and frequently challenging inner-city traffic, an environment in which the number of unprotected road users is increasing: More people are cycling or riding e-scooters or compact electric mopeds. Moreover, many road users allow themselves to be distracted by their cell phones. According to information from the transport services, this has resulted in an increasing number of accidents, including those involving trams.
Commissioned by a rail vehicle manufacturer, Continental Engineering Services is currently bringing the innovative display to production maturity. It will initially be used in Europe from the middle of this year.
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CES is doing important pioneering work here: To date, real head-up displays have been non-existent in rail transportation. Key components of the display, including the powerful light source, come from Continental’s automotive portfolio, and are already installed in various vehicle models from major automotive manufacturers.
“With the development of a head-up display for trams, we are taking a major step toward greater safety in urban rail transport,” explains Dr. Christoph Falk-Gierlinger, General Manager of CES. “Information previously displayed on different cockpit instruments can now be placed in the driver’s field of vision via a central head-up display. Their view is not distracted from the traffic. The journey will become safer for tram drivers and passengers.”
New head-up display helps prevent collisions in road traffic
The advantages of using head-up displays in rail vehicles are immense. As in the automotive sector, the trend is toward ever larger windshields and consequently lower set dashboards.
Here however, the necessary head movements distract from the traffic situation. Moreover, the eyes constantly have to switch focus between near and far vision as the driver’s gaze moves between cockpit and road. This is very tiring for the driver.
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Projecting vital information – for example, warning signals, speed, distance to the next stop – in the driver’s direct field of vision makes driving more comfortable, resulting in greater safety. This is particularly the case because information is displayed virtually as if it were at some distance in front of the vehicle. That way, the eyes do not have to constantly refocus.
To view the entire announcement, click HERE.
