Skoda is currently trialing new technology it says could reduce accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians.
One safety measure Skoda is developing consists of a series of LED strips to replace the current Crystal Face grille on the Skoda Enyaq.
Each LED is programable and can be controlled separately, which allows developers to create animations and signals to display on the grille.
Developers are also working to ensure the LED illumination can hold up in severe weather.
“The final step was a lightweight diffusion layer and a cover to ensure the mask could withstand the harshest weather conditions during testing,” explains Zdeněk Herda, specialist for HMI simulations and automatic driving at Škoda technical development.
There are three illumination options that are all automatically displayed without any driver intervention.
Once the vehicle comes to a stop at a pedestrian crossing, the grille will display a message which signals pedestrians it is safe to cross.
After the pedestrians have crossed, the vehicle will display a “stop, stay off the pedestrian crossing” while it begins to take off and drive over the crossing.
If there is any reason why a driver is not able to stop at a pedestrian crossing, the LED grille will display a message that says “Caution, I can’t stop, do not step out onto the crossing”.
Developers are currently trialing what symbols are the most effective with pedestrians. Options include green arrows, a green figure man, a warning triangle and a red triangle with a cross, all of which are colours used on traffic lights.
Another safety initiative Skoda is developing with other companies is a robotic ‘lollipop lady’ called IPA2X that will alert drivers about pedestrians that are on a crossing as well as communicate when it is safe for vehicles to drive on.
It’s being developed with experts from the Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at Prague’s Czech Technical University, as well as the Technical University of Munich.
Skoda aims to have testing in Italy and Slovenia completed in 2024, with robots deployed on streets as early as 2025.
The robot stands two metres tall and is able to see over most vehicles and use sensors to monitor pedestrian crossings.
It also be able to communicate with vehicles via an animation on the cars’ infotainment system.
It will display a message when pedestrians are approaching a crossing or are already on it.
Once the robot has returned back to the kerb, the alert will be removed from the car.
The robot was trialled near schools in Milan and Modena in Italy and in areas with large senior citizen populations in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Developers received feedback from Italian schoolchildren, who were said to find it strange the robot moved too slowly and didn’t talk or have arms. Skoda says it will use these learnings to help improve the robot.
