Marelli Automotive Lighting

Marelli has been named a ‘Top Innovator’ at the Innovation Awards 2024 by CLEPA – the European Association of Automotive Suppliers – with its h-Digi® microLED technology, a cutting-edge headlight solution that enhances safety at affordable costs, enabling adoption across a wide range of vehicles. The technology was honored in the ‘Digital’ category, during a ceremony held on December 4th in Brussels.

The CLEPA Innovation Awards recognize and celebrate ground-breaking ideas in green and digital technology across the automotive supply industry. This marks the second consecutive year that Marelli has been awarded by CLEPA for its innovations in the ‘Digital’ category (after being honored in 2023 for its HorizonView head-up display). This category recognizes smart solutions within the mobility ecosystem, driven by digitalization.

Based on a new intelligent multipixel LED matrix light source, Marelli’s h-Digi® microLED module enables fully adaptive, dynamic headlight operation and high-resolution image projection on the road for driver assistance in a more affordable, compact, lightweight module than any other solution currently on the market.

The h-Digi® microLED modulates the light pattern according to objects that are detected through a combination of cameras and sensors, making night-time driving safer – also thanks to full beam lighting that reduces glare for all road users. This innovation expands the availability of high-resolution Adaptive Driving Beams (ADBs), making this affordable safety feature more accessible to the market.

With pixels smaller than 0.1 degree, the resolution of the illumination matrix system is 10 times greater than that of conventional LED glare-free high beam systems and creates a significantly longer illumination range, thus improving safety. The high-resolution system offers benefits also in the low beam mode, as it provides the opportunity for adaptive lighting functions, like dynamic light bending on country roads, or special light patterns on highways during high-speed driving, and also adaptive lighting in adverse weather situations. In addition, each h-Digi® microLED can project graphics onto the road in the driver’s line of sight to communicate safety messages, warnings or simple driver assistance patterns such as lane guides. The solution also offers the opportunity for individualization and, potentially, also personalization through attractive “welcome” and “leaving home” projections.

The compact design of the module results in high energy efficiency. Two micro-LED options are available: one of 25,600 pixels configured in an aspect ratio of 1:4, the other of 19,200 pixels configured as an aspect ratio of 1:3. The lighting source is combined with a special optical lens system and a new electronic control, both engineered in-house by Marelli.

“The CLEPA ‘Top Innovator’ Award is a fantastic recognition for us as technology leader in lighting. We have created a unique customer experience with our digital light solutions”, said Frank Huber, President of Marelli’s Automotive Lighting & Sensing business. “Our extremely efficient h-Digi® microLED sets new standards in road safety and driving comfort at an affordable cost. I am proud of our teams and our successful co-creation with customers & partners.”

Marelli launches its new AI-based Electronic Control Unit for engine and vehicle control in motorsport applications, designed for all types of vehicle propulsion, from traditional to electric. The solution, called VEC_480, ensures 100% compatibility with the rising trend of real-time AI computation onboard, and will be presented during the Professional MotorSport World Expo held in Cologne, Germany, on November 13th and 14th.

This breakthrough technology redefines the standard of traditional Vehicle Control Units (VCU) for motorsport, offering unprecedented performance, efficiency, reliability, computational capabilities and advanced connectivity to meet the sector's growing demands. Compared to previous VCUs, the new solution offers superior performance in computational power. Real-time computing performance is 2.5 times higher; the inter-processor bandwidth is increased by 10 times and RAM memory bandwidth is improved, enabling greater reliability in reiterating crucial vehicle operations.

VCUs are high-performance control units that integrate different functions into a single device: engine and chassis control and actuation, data logging and gateway to telemetry and cloud, in-car networking.

Based on Marelli Motorsport’s solid know-how in vehicle control solutions, the VEC_480 is engineered to manage the increasing complexity of neural based algorithms in real time (milliseconds). This is achieved through the adoption of an advanced AI Accelerator (NPU), available with a high computing capacity up to 26 TOPS (Tera Operations per Second). This cutting-edge technology provides greater potential for internal vehicle networking and engine or vehicle management.

The powerful AI accelerator embedded in the device supports real-time AI inference with low latency and high efficiency, paving the way to neural virtual sensors, data inference with Artificial Intelligence, real-time video processing (track detection, object detection, and more), localization and positioning, performance analysis, predictive analysis, voice recognition. The technology is also compatible and supports the top AI frameworks, such as TensorFlow, TensorFlow Lite, Keras, PyTorch, and ONNX.

This solution complements the range of advanced technologies that Marelli Motorsport will showcase at the Professional MotorSport World Expo, in Hall 10.01, at booth 3064. Acting as an accelerator for technology development, Marelli Motorsport develops innovations and cutting-edge solutions for racing vehicles, enabling the flow down to the passenger car business by leveraging an agile, fast, and optimized design.

Marelli is delighted to confirm that it has joined forces with Nissan Formula E Team as Technical Partner on an initial two-year agreement.

With over 100 years of history as a global technology partner to the automotive and motorsport worlds, Marelli aims to co-create the future of mobility with customers and partners.

Thanks to Marelli Motorsport’s extensive experience, the collaboration gives Nissan Formula E Team the opportunity to explore areas where the partnership could be increased to support the car development for future seasons. The company has an established track record in innovation and manufacturing, and is looking to further leverage, develop and showcase its technical expertise in electrified motorsport.

In addition to the technical partnership, Marelli branding will appear on the rear wing of both Nissan e-4ORCE 05 cars, the team’s garage walls and marketing platforms.

Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal, Nissan Formula E Team: “We’re very proud to be teaming up with Marelli Motorsport, a leader in the industry. It’s fantastic to have them on board and we look forward to investigating areas for potential collaboration on control systems development. The championship is extremely competitive, so it is important for us to ensure we are partnering with the best companies, and we believe Marelli Motorsport fits this perfectly. We’re looking forward to working with them and I’m sure we will have a fruitful relationship together.”

Riccardo De Filippi, Head of Marelli Motorsport: “We’re excited to expand our long-term technical partnership with Nissan Motor Company into its Formula E program, also proudly displaying the Marelli logo on the rear wing of both cars. We’re looking forward to working closely with the team, strengthening our relationship with Nissan in both the motorsport and road car markets, and we’re eager to enhance our technical contributions moving forward.”

Matrix headlights and illuminated front grille, innovative taillights, and a lit logo in the front & rear – Changan has again entrusted Marelli with the development and production of the entire exterior lighting for the model CS75 Plus in its fourth generation – with engineering & manufacturing in China.

Front and rear lighting units match perfectly. Providing illuminated OEM logo and encompassing the entire width of the car, they emanate the feeling of power, clear and clean.

In the front, four rows of light strips in the main-light area are connected by a continuous strip in the grille. The space-saving, third-generation bifunctional matrix module not only improves the luminance using LEDs of greater intensity, but also features a new cooling system that can reduce energy consumption by 18% while maintaining the desired light output.

The tail lamp, also adopting the popular full-width design extends across the entire width of the car. The up and down staggered lighting functions emphasize the visual impact to improve brand recognition. At the same time, the variety of animation modes can create different scenarios to highlight the personality of the lamp – and the car.

These lamps reflect Marelli’s innovative spirit and leadership in technology trends.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will narrow its sights on FIM Motocross World Championship success thanks to the support of Marelli Motorsport: the two companies have confirmed a collaboration moving forwards for MXGP.

Marelli has been a long-term KTM partner in the development of electronic systems and data administration in various racing disciplines, especially road racing and with the birth of the MotoGP™ project midway through the last decade. Marelli is a leading mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector with a strong track record for innovation and manufacturing excellence, as well as a long-standing presence in motorsports. The company began an official affiliation with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (in Rally) in 2023 and this bond will now intensify as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pursue their goals in the MXGP and MX2 classes.

Marelli Motorsport is an important supplier and technical ally for KTM and the R&D process with KTM 450 SX-F and KTM 250 SX-F machinery in Grand Prix, providing expertise and backing in terms of hardware and software resources. Their industry leading acumen with electronics had immediate benefit in 2023 when Red Bull KTM Factory Racing was able to dominate the Dakar rally.

Marelli Motorsport has over 100 years of history at the highest levels of competition and in both two- and four-wheel racing. As Marelli’s technology ‘incubator’, Marelli Motorsport develops highly advanced solutions for racing vehicles that can be carried over to road cars and bikes and vice-versa.

Robert Jonas, Vice President OFFROAD Racing: “We’re really happy to bring Marelli Motorsport even closer to our KTM Motorsport program and deeper into the operations of the MXGP team. Marelli pride themselves on innovation and development and, of course, we are also pushing as hard as we can to make all aspects of our racing project the best it can be. We invest in the bikes, the riders, the staff, the championships and to have all of this at the highest level also means having first-class partners. It’s great to take that further step for motocross.”

Riccardo De Filippi, Head of Marelli Motorsport: “Through this new collaboration, we are thrilled to consolidate and extend our already successful technical partnership with KTM Motorsport into a new field. This will be a great opportunity to leverage our extensive 'on track' expertise into the off-road sector, further strengthening our long presence in the world of two-wheel motorsports. Building on the mutual success we have already achieved we can’t wait to live this new adventure alongside such a prestigious partner and to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation together."

Marelli, a leading mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector, and Hesai Group (NASDAQ: HSAI), a global leader in automotive-grade lidar today announced a collaboration to integrate Marelli's innovative headlamp design with Hesai's next-generation lidar technology.

This unique integration seamlessly blends Hesai's new ATX lidar into Marelli's premium automotive lighting solution providing optimal object detection and enhancing overall vehicle safety, without impacting vehicle aesthetics or aerodynamics, at affordable costs. The ATX lidar is a compact and highly customizable long-range sensor specifically designed for automotive applications. Compared to the previous generation product, the new ATX has achieved a significant volume reduction of nearly 60%, which makes it much easier to integrate into the headlamp.

"Co-creating innovative solutions with our customers or partners is at the core of Marelli's approach to driving the future of mobility. This collaboration with Hesai exemplifies our design-led innovation model perfectly" said David Fan, EVP and President China, Marelli.

"By combining our expertise in headlamp design with Hesai's industry-leading lidar safety technology, we have co-created a truly integrated solution that elevates safety, style and simplifies option management for future vehicles" stated Peter Cao, Head of Marelli Automotive Lighting & Sensing business in APAC.

"The collaboration between Hesai and Marelli signifies a major step forward in the development and adoption of lidar technology for the automotive industry," said David Li, Co-founder, and CEO of Hesai. "This groundbreaking headlamp-lidar integration paves the way for automotive OEMs to improve vehicle safety in a wide range of models by adding powerful lidar technology without sacrificing vehicle design and for a safer future where intelligent driving systems can be offered as part of nearly any vehicle."

Marelli's innovative headlamp design with Hesai lidar integration offers several key advantages:

• Enhanced Safety: The precise positioning of the lidar within the headlamp ensures optimal coverage of the road and surrounding environment, enabling superior object detection and ranging for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving functionalities. Marelli's new headlamp design is offered in two customized options to meet the diverse preferences of customers, accommodating both cost-effective and luxury car models.
• Seamless Integration: The compact design of the ATX lidar allows for effortless integration within the headlamp unit, maintaining the vehicle's sleek aesthetics and aerodynamic profile while also saving on material costs.
• Improved Performance: The placement of the lidar within the headlamp provides a natural solution for keeping the sensor clean during operation, maximizing sensor performance in all weather conditions. Marelli's new headlamp design both protects the lidar sensor and makes it easier to keep the lidar sensor clean which helps ensure the lidar is in optimal working order to support intelligent driving functions.
• In addition, the solution also ensures affordability and cost competitiveness.

Marelli will be hosting live demonstrations of the new headlamp concept with Hesai lidar integration at the 2024 Beijing Auto show, which runs April 25 - May 4.

Marelli, a leading mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector, will showcase its latest zone control unit (Zone), built in collaboration with Infineon, at the upcoming Auto China show in Beijing.

Marelli Zone Control Units (Zones) are advanced electronic control units, that are placed in specific zones of the vehicle and manage various functions, consolidating electronic control units (ECUs) from multiple domains – including lighting, body, audio, power distribution, propulsion, thermal management, chassis control, and vehicle diagnostics – leveraging Marelli’s industry-leading cross-domain expertise. They form an integral part of the company’s scalable hardware solutions, which revolutionize the concept of software-defined vehicles. These solutions, combined with service-oriented software and cloud virtualization, enable a new era of vehicle customization and personalization. By decoupling hardware and software, Marelli Zones offer unmatched flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with any original equipment manufacturer’s architecture, while also enabling a reduction in hardware complexity and cost.

The adoption of Infineon’s AURIX™ TC4x microcontrollers in the Zones brings significant benefits to OEMs. The special data routing engine (DRE) within Infineon AURIX™ microcontrollers ensures extremely low latency levels when connecting CAN and Ethernet, enabling the Zones to consolidate numerous electronic computing units into a single piece of hardware. This consolidation doesn’t compromise performance, providing a robust foundation for centralized architecture. Additionally, Infineon’s microcontrollers support hardware virtualization, another key element of next-generation zonal architecture, enabling parallel execution of multiple virtual machines and therefore disparate domain and safety applications within the same Zone.

“Marelli and Infineon have a longstanding collaboration, and the joint development of our Zones is yet another significant step forward,” said Nate Sladek, Vice President of Strategy and Product Management within the Electronic Systems division at Marelli. “Thanks to Infineon’s key contribution, Marelli is well-positioned to strengthen its primary role as a partner to OEMs venturing into zonal architectures. This collaboration allows us to offer cutting-edge solutions that enhance the driving experience and build upon our industry-leading position in zonal architectures.”

“Together with innovation drivers like Marelli, we are shaping the mobility of tomorrow. Zone controllers will play a significant role in enabling ECU consolidation, E/E architectures and the software defined vehicle.” said Lars Wemme, Vice President Product Line ADAS, Chassis, E/E architecture at Infineon. “By leveraging the benefits of Infineon’s AURIX™ TC4x microcontrollers, OEMs can achieve greater efficiency in system design, implementation, and operation.”

Visitors to Marelli’s booth at Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, located at W1-W01 in the Temporary Hall, can see the company’s Zone demo and other innovations that support the transition to software-defined vehicles. With a commitment to innovation and engineering excellence, Marelli continues to push boundaries in the mobility technology sector.

Marelli, a leading mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector, will introduce ProConnect, a fully integrated cluster with infotainment and 5G telematics, at Auto China in Beijing. ProConnect is targeted for the China market where many OEMs are integrating cockpit and telematics functions for entry and mid segment vehicles to better balance performance and cost.

Powered by MediaTek’s market-proven MT8675 System on Chip (SoC), ProConnect manages both the instrument cluster and the infotainment system, supporting up to six displays and twelve cameras, while providing 5G Release 15 telematics performance. ProConnect maximizes value for OEMs and end-consumers through the elimination of redundant components with an integrated SoC supporting cluster, IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment), and TCU (Telematic Control Unit) functions, saving up to 40% compared to traditional architectures.

“We are very excited to collaborate with MediaTek, a leader in integrated telematics, infotainment, and cluster solutions in China, on the development of ProConnect using their Dimensity Auto product lines,” stated Nate Sladek, Vice President of Strategy and Product Management within Electronic Systems division at Marelli. “ProConnect is the next product in our Connect product line where we already have a significant global program award for 4G LeanConnect from a leading automaker. EliteConnect is next on our roadmap which will provide even greater performance but still at a very affordable price.”

“By working closely with Marelli on powering ProConnect, we are drawing from many of our key technologies from a wide range of product categories and tailoring them to deliver a fantastic balance of power efficiency, high performance, speed and reliability in the modern automotive market,” said Mike Chang, Corporate Vice President at MediaTek. “Through this collaboration, we can offer premium safety features, 5G connectivity, comprehensive multimedia packages and more to address the needs of today’s drivers in China.”

ProConnect is the latest technology developed on Marelli’s Pro hardware platform, which targets urban commuters and eco-conscious buyers, and includes the widest feature set across the company’s platform portfolio. Visitors to Marelli’s booth at Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, located at W1-W01 in the Temporary Hall, can see ProConnect and other innovations that drive differentiated vehicle personality and sustainable vehicle performance.

Marelli, a leading mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector, will showcase its latest innovations at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, in booth W1-W01 of the temporary hall, in Beijing, China, April 25 – May 4, 2024. The company will offer an invitation-only, curated experience that will introduce guests to Marelli's approach to Design-Led Innovation. Marelli will showcase its latest technologies, with a particular focus on China market, where the company has a long-standing presence.

Marelli's booth presents a customized journey that follows the phases of the vehicle co-creation process through different areas, where visitors can experience the company's technology approach, know-how and solutions. Firstly, the Co-Creation @Speed area will present Marelli's software-defined vehicle value proposition, showing how the company supports architecture scalability, software portability, zone control standardization, and cloud virtualization. The company's Digital Twin demonstrator will show how Marelli can replicate a vehicle cockpit in the cloud, to accelerate design, testing, simulation, and feature deployment over-the-air.

In the following area, sitting in Marelli's demo car, visitors will experience the company's software-defined interior concept. Built on a centralized architecture and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the car includes advanced audio and sound zoning, motorized hidden displays and interior components, in-console projection, eco-materials, multi-functional interfaces, a customizable pillar-to-pillar display, and more.

Marelli will showcase lighting and 360° communication technologies including a working demonstration of a LiDAR sensor in a headlamp. Other technologies include the award-winning LASER wire rear lamp that incorporates fiber optics to achieve a unique brand signature, an ultra-high definition microLED module with road projection, a signal lamp, and the latest electronic and light domain control units. The company's LeanLight concept, which debuted at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, NV, USA, features a simplified hardware design, reduced weight, reduced CO2 emissions, and costs less than traditional lighting products.

Technologies designed to promote sustainable vehicle performance will be on display in the Interactive Experience Lab, including Marelli's fully-active electromechanical suspension system, integrated thermal management module, battery cooling plate, smart actuator, double valve smart damping control, and wireless battery management system powered by AI.

"For Marelli, China is a crucial market. We have a solid presence and strong partnerships with Chinese carmakers, demonstrating our technological capabilities and our commitment." said David Fan, EVP and President China of Marelli. "Our design-led innovation and co-creation approach with customers, technology partners and suppliers aims at meeting the differentiated product needs of both international and local carmakers in the Chinese market. The rapid evolution of China's new energy and intelligent vehicle scenario perfectly aligns with Marelli's expertise and strategic interests."

Marelli has developed in China an innovative automotive lighting domain control unit platform, that is able to control vehicles' front lights, rear lights, and all new 360° lighting features. In the future, even more lighting algorithms could be further integrated into this light domain controller. This cutting-edge technology for lighting systems aimed at next-generation vehicles will be showcased at the upcoming Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, from April 25 to May 4, alongside other Marelli advanced technologies.

Whether it's internal combustion engine vehicles or electric vehicles, the automotive lighting control system remains key for enhancing vehicle safety and improving the driving experience. To meet the evolution of new electronic and electrical architectures, Marelli is advancing vehicle lighting control system architecture with a forward-looking approach. The successful mass production of Marelli's light domain controller has been introduced and proved in China's electric vehicles market. On the end node side, Marelli has introduced the "MCU LESS" intelligent driver concept, greatly enabling the opportunity to centralize the whole lighting software into domain ECUs, perfectly supporting the automotive industry's trend toward software-defined vehicle (SDV).

As lighting functions become increasingly independent from dedicated ECUs, the "Software as a Product" (SaaP) concept has reinforced the core role of software in the entire lighting system. Marelli's unique technological approach supports OTA (Over-the-Air) updates and continuous deployment of new features for automotive lighting software, after the vehicle is in production.

Leveraging over 20 years of expertise in automotive lighting electronics, Marelli portfolio includes a comprehensive suite of control unit solutions for automotive lighting, ranging from basic lighting controllers that meet distributed power supply systems, to centralized CAN communication controllers that support adaptive matrix headlamps, to high-definition rendering controllers represented by micro-LED and Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) technologies. This broad portfolio meets customer demands for affordability, quality, and scalability. In particular, the know-how and solutions of the company in terms of high-definition rendering algorithms applied to DMD and micro-LED have already been adopted by several global and Chinese premium brands.

Overall, with its solid software and hardware design foundation, Marelli provides robust support for the design of innovative lighting solutions, in particular in the field of adaptive headlights. Marelli has been leading the industry's development to high-definition adaptive headlight solutions up to 1.3 million pixels, for which the company provides both optical modules and electronic control modules. Also, Marelli has been the first company to apply Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) technology to adaptive headlights.

In China, Marelli has built a complete localized R&D, design, and production system. On the production side, Marelli has devoted production facilities for electronic control units for lighting in Guangzhou and Wuhu. On the R&D side, the company has centers in Shanghai and Wuhu to support the development of lighting control units for Chinese and global market, while also closely collaborating and sharing design resources with design centers in Europe. This enables the company to quickly respond to market demands and provide customers with innovative, efficient and affordable lighting controller system solutions.

Visitors to the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition will have the possibility to see and experience the most advanced Marelli innovations in the lighting field at the company's booth, W1-W01, in the Temporary Hall.