Potential Energy Savings of Adaptive Driving Beam Headlamps Using ADAS Sensors by Environmental Aware Lighting Control

This study proposes a strategy to reduce power consumption in vehicle lighting systems, particularly headlamps, as part of efforts to improve energy efficiency in electric and eco-friendly vehicles. Among the various electrical components in a vehicle, lighting systems consume a significant amount of power, with low beams accounting for approximately 52% of total lamp energy usage. Therefore, this study presents an integrated control strategy that dynamically adjusts the power consumption of low and high beams according to real-time driving conditions, aiming to reduce energy use while maintaining driver visibility and safety. Experiments were conducted using simulation environments with 30 participants, based on three key variables: ambient illuminance, driving speed, and inter-vehicle distance. The results showed that in urban environments with high illuminance (above 50 lx), reducing low beam intensity to 25% did not compromise visibility or safety. At speeds above 80km/h, the use of high beams was found to be essential for maintaining sufficient visibility. Additionally, in scenario based on inter-vehicle distance, the presence of a leading vehicle allowed the Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) system to further adjust light output. When applied to real-road conditions, low beam power consumption was reduced from 31.8W to 12.22W, achieving over 60% energy savings. This study is expected to be expanded through future research involving real vehicle testing and regulatory considerations.