Audi reinvents the rearview mirror for the race at Le Mans

With each passing year, we often see in various Concept Car, new technologies. Some very futuristic, and other unthinkable. But is not the first time we see mirrors that work with video cameras, and although many of you guys could think that this technology has an easy implementation in production cars, this is not true, so brands like Audi , the prototypes being tested in real and LMP Le Mans . And in many countries, governments are regulating the manufacturers can not introduce these and other technologies in production cars, but this is due to technical and safety issue.

Anyway, we talked quite recently of the new Audi is developing technologies for road cars , but in this case, what better to test them in the new R18 Le Mans, among other things, has a big screen AMOLED near the cockpit, and is connected to a video camera, on the other side is covered with fiberglass to reduce weight and improve aerodynamic efficiency. Thus, Audi allows its drivers to see much more clearly what riders approaching, increasing the safety of both drivers.

In addition, we must realize that these models have a large central engine, do not usually give way to place a traditional mirror to see who comes up behind, that there is no visual line to line. And yet, this technology offers many advantages as it does not depend on the vibrations that occur over 300 km / h, or the elements like rain or darkness of the night, especially if we think that these cameras could be equipped in the future of night vision. And is that as explained by Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport:

Our pilots are busy in the cockpit. And in the past, our pilots could only rely on mirrors to be kept back. In addition, large rear engine and vibration at high speeds, significantly reduce the field of view of the pilots. Something that gives us great advantages over our competitors because it is a neutral mirror, ie unaffected inclement weather. And even when a car approaches from behind at night, the images are superior.

A technology that has been made ​​possible by the latest technology in LEDs, as they have used the latest technologies in organic semiconductors (the screen is AMOLED, as stated above), using a few pixels so small (0.1 mm) that offer some unprecedented images. Besides improvements in the responses of this screen AMOLED, underlies the high performance racing.

Hence, even at 330 km / h can acquire a completely smooth, with an incredible real-time transmission.

Since we must remember that the Audi R18 covers 92 meters in one second. And we are sure that if we eventually see a victory for Audi at Le Mans, surely the following Monday and we'll be seeing a team Audi development, thinking of incorporating them into the street cars. And in any case, sooner or later surely see a similar system in our street cars, at least in the rear-view mirror. And if not, time to time.