Sensors for the analysis of driving conditions

Sensors for the analysis of driving conditions:

Driving on cold, wet winter days has one disadvantage: ice on the road only becomes noticeable when you start skidding. Glancing at the temperature indicator is also of little use. It would be much better if a car were able to reliably inform the driver each time ice began to form on the road, and this is where sensors that are able to analyse driving conditions come in handy. Small laser sensors designed for this purpose have already been introduced onto the market, but the car industry is in the process of developing even smaller ones. So-called quantum points, i.e. large blobs up to ten nanometres in size and consisting of semi-conductors, can, depending on the energy feed, conduct electricity. If one places millions of them - like jam into a doughnut - into another semi-conductor, they can be tuned to emit ultra pure laser light. This technology could then be used to examine for ice on the road. The principle behind it is the following: The laser light excites water molecules in the ice, which as a result emit radiation, and this in turn is picked up by a detector in the vehicle.