United States Department of Transportation
i
Semiautomatic Headlamp Beam Switching Device Confirmation Test – Test Procedure Assessment
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2019-02-01
[PDF-11.52 MB]
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Edition:Final Report
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Abstract:This report summarizes evaluation of a draft test procedure for confirming the presence of a semiautomatic headlamp beam switching device. For the presence of a semiautomatic headlamp beam switching device to be confirmed, the vehicle had to be observed automatically engaging the upper beam headlamps upon reaching the system activation travel speed, then switching to lower beam after the stimulus vehicle’s lamps were revealed, and finally returning to upper beam after passing the stimulus vehicle. Three vehicles were subjected to multiple repetitions of the oncoming and preceding test scenarios. Two met these performance requirements in all conducted test trials. A third vehicle consistently engaged the upper beam headlamps and then switched to lower beam in response to the stimulus vehicle’s illuminated lamps, but in some cases failed to switch back to upper beam headlamps after passing the stimulus vehicle. Specifically, the system did not re-engage the upper beam headlamps in 1 of 8 (12%) oncoming trials and 2 of 8 (25%) adjacent-lane preceding trials. Overall, the semiautomatic beam switching performance observed in this testing demonstrated that consistent and appropriate switching performance is achievable. This effort identified some minor but helpful recommendations. These included specifying a minimum travel speed that is somewhat above the minimum activation speed to help ensure that conditions for semiautomatic beam switching are consistently met. The use of cruise control or other speed-maintenance aids to maintain the test vehicle’s travel speed safely above the minimum speed for semiautomatic beam switching is beneficial. Objective measures were also implemented that illustrated and quantitatively documented the device performance. Overall, the testing demonstrated that repeatability is achievable for this test.
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Content Notes:Mazzae, E. N., & Andrella, A. (2019, February). Semiautomatic headlamp beam switching device confirmation test – Test procedure assessment. (Report No. DOT HS 812 661). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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