Skoda is making much of the Crystal Face grille fitted to top-specification versions of its Enyaq battery electric vehicle (BEV), which is backlit and can illuminate in a variety of interesting ways. Although all of them are basically to show off.
The Czech maker's research and development department is taking the technology a step further to make it a safety feature. It has added programmable-LED strip holders to the toothy frontispiece, which makes it possible to create unique animations.
When the car approaches a pedestrian crossing for example, it can warn those waiting to cross in advance that it has spotted them. When it actually stops it displays green arrows, to tell them it’s safe to cross. Once they have crossed, it can display a different signal to warn pedestrians that the car is moving.
In a more extreme example, a car approaching the crossing at speed that's unable to stop, can send out a clear signal to pedestrians not to cross.
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The symbols currently being tested include green arrows and a green person, plus a warning triangle or a red triangle with a cross – symbols that are widely recognisable.
The flashy Enyaq is part of a wider trial that also includes a "robotic rover" called IPA2X, which has been designed to help children, seniors and people with disabilities cross the road safely. Experts from the Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CIIRC), the Technical University of Munich and Škoda have been working together to develop this smart assistant, alongside the signalling radiator grille.
The robot, which is over two metres tall, looks like a mobile traffic light that makes its way to the middle of a pedestrian crossing. Once it gets there, it will display a green light and pedestrians can cross. The robot is constantly monitoring its surroundings, so it can detect when a car is approaching the crossing; with sensors located two metres high, it's able to see over parked cars.
The robot displays both information for pedestrians and warnings for approaching cars – it shows approaching drivers a stop sign. It also sends a warning to the car itself, which is displayed as an animation on the infotainment display. Once the pedestrians have crossed the road, the robot goes back to the kerb.
The moment it reaches the kerb, the alert on the car’s dashboard disappears and the driver can continue on their way. Further developments of the robot will look to also provide audio warnings.
