Hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and organised by the Automotive Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the ‘New-Energy Automotive Industry Development Accomplishments Exhibition’ was officially held in Beijing on 25 September 2021.
This year's ‘New-Energy Automotive Industry Development Accomplishments Exhibition’ attracted traditional automobile OEMs, emerging manufacturers and new-generation suppliers including FAW Hongqi, Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Motor, Geely, Great Wall, BYD, NIO, Xpeng Motors, Li Auto, and more.
Beijing ASU Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as ASU) was selected for the Exhibition with their AR smart tailgate and the AR-HUD image engine. Cao Teng, CEO of ASU, said: “The organizers have carefully selected excellent brands and technologies in the field of intelligent networked automotives in China, and we as a leading company in automotive optoelectronics and interactives, are extremely honoured and inspired to become Tier 1 innovative technology suppliers for both state-owned enterprises and newly emerging brands. We are committed to contributing what we can to the rise of China's automobile industry and national brands through independent innovation and domestic substitution.”
Founded in April 2015, ASU is a national high-tech enterprise, a Z-Park frontier technology enterprise, as well as a ‘specialised and sophisticated’ enterprise in the field of laser virtual display and interactives.
In the past 6 years, ASU has formed an optical research team including 4 PhDs, and with a doctoral research station in Beijing Jiaotong University, has a strong line-up among the optical start-ups. The ideas and technologies of ASU have attracted the attention of industrial capital, and the company's current investors include Haier, Xiaomi, Beijing Infrastructure Investment, and more.
Currently, ASU has made breakthroughs in laser display modules, ultra-short lenses, infrared laser virtual touch control technology and visual algorithms, and has more than 100 technical patents in related fields, more than half of which are invention patents. At present, ASU is the only optical technology company in China with integrated ability in research, development, production, and sales.
Automotive HUDs have gone through two generations and are now entering the 3.0 era. C-HUD was the 1.0 era, W-HUD the 2.0 era, and now AR-HUD is the 3.0 era.
For AR-HUD, PGU (picture generation unit) is the decisive component therein, deciding the product’s parameters, display effects and costs. ASU is one of the very few companies in China that develops PGUs of its own.
Now, 90% of the world's projection-type PGU is using the DLP technology with LED as the light source, a technology that has been monopolized by the American company Texas Instruments since its birth. As a result, products using this technology can only use image engines as defined by Texas Instruments themselves, with no customisability and a hefty price tag.
ASU adheres to the strategy of "independent innovation, domestic substitution", and has created a PGU image engine and subsequent complete AR-HUD products using LCoS laser projection technology as its core, with a volume as small as 8 litres and a FOV as large as 12 by 6, solving a ‘stranglehold’ technology field faced by China's automobile industry.
LCoS is a novel type of reflective digital projection technology. Power saving, low cost and high resolution are the biggest advantages of LCoS technology. With laser as the light source, the LCoS technology of ASU can reach a projected resolution of 4K or even 8K. For DLP technology to reach a similar level of performance, the cost would be much higher.
Therefore, ASU’s solution to AR-HUD, combining laser and LCoS technology as PGU, surpasses the mainstream DLP technology in terms of performance and experience. This move not only breaks the monopoly of Texas Instruments in the DLP field, but also starts a process of gradually establishing ASU’s new AR-HUD ecosystem, relying on their core technologies and product solutions.
In addition to making breakthroughs in AR-HUD with cutting-edge technology, ASU has also optimized the design of W-HUD products and launched W-HUD 3.1-inch products, based on old 1.8-inch models.
The W-HUD 3.1-inch product, based on the architecture independently developed by ASU, is cost-effective and has a compact size more adaptable to different car interiors. It also has other merits including sharp imaging, clear display, high contrast, clear and easy-to-read instructions, display on-demand, and less visual interference to the drivers. The product solution is mature and ready for mass production.
ASU focuses on the following three major sectors: consumer electronics, automotive smart hardware, and public transport applications including for the underground and for aircrafts. In the field of smart automotives, ASU has also developed products such as the AR tailgate, LFP light field welcome lights and in-car cinemas and has become a T1 supplier of two large state-owned companies, as well as new forces in the automotive manufacturing industry.
For the AR smart tailgate, once the user steps on the high-definition image projected on the ground, the tailgate will be automatically opened, and be automatically closed after use. Responsive and with a successful operation rate of 99%, it creates an interesting and innovative interactive tech experiences for users.
In this year's ‘New-Energy Automotive Industry Development Accomplishments Exhibition’, many innovative novel technologies were showcased, as gift offerings from the automotive industry. The core technology and products of ASU’s HUD have attracted the attention of the industry. Planning for the future, their even more revolutionary HUD 4.0 based on optical waveguides is already in the phase of pre-development, the company will do its best to create a new generation of virtual display and interactive products, building core technologies, improve user experience, and help Chinese auto brands successfully enter the global market.
