New Paint Pigments Make Cars More Visible To Sensors

New Paint Pigments Make Cars More Visible To Sensors

For decades after the invention of the automobile, black was the dominant choice for paint jobs, and for good reason. For a good long while it was the only choice manufacturers provided. It was looks great and doesn't show dirt as much as other colors. Eventually white took over as the first choice. About 37% of cars sold are white, with black now second at about 17%. 

White is a great choice, too. Especially during the summer. Like silver, white reflects light, therefore making the car's interior significantly cooler. Black has the opposite effect. A more recent problem with darker shades has been identified as self-driving technology advances. It seems that along with light, dark paints absorb signals being transmitted by their sensors. Seeing that almost ever auto manufacturer and several third parties are working on getting their autonomous cars on the road ASAP, this can become a problem very quickly.

Most if not all of the sensors used in safety systems for self-driving cars use lidar. These safety systems include automatic braking. They transmit laser lights and measure the time it takes for those transmissions to come back along with any changes in their frequency. This tells the on-board computer the range, position and velocity of objects around a vehicle. If some or all of the signal is absorbed instead of being reflected, though, the results can be catastrophic.

It would really be optimal for all car to be a light, easily detected color. Since this isn't going to happen, paint giant PPG has stepped in with a solution. Using technology engineered at the molecular level, PPG has created pigments that can be added to paints to make them more detectable to sensors while not altered to the human eye.

They came across the idea from a strange place: the eggplant. The eggplant's skin has a specific property that allows sunlight to pass through the darker purple layer and reflect off of the vegetable's while interior. Similarly, the paint pigments they've engineered allow light (and with that sensor transmissions) to pass through and reflect off of a white underlayment. As an added bonus, you could end up with a much cooler car in the summer! Check with your auto body professionals such as Quality Body & Fender of Oakland, CA for more information.

Written By: Todd Hendrickson
Source: The Economist