This Front Grille Display Being Developed By Skoda Can Save Lives

Developed along with a small robot, this technology can be very helpful for pedestrians trying to cross the road safely

Skoda's latest urban mobility project has it working on a new technology to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the road. It is a two-part project with the first part involving LEDs in the front grille of its electric SUV and a small robotic rover to indicate to pedestrians when to stop and when to cross using different signs and symbols.

What Can It Show?

The pixelated display on the grille replaces the Enyaq iV’s backlit crystal face grille with LED strips that can be programmed to display symbols like a green arrow, a green person or a red alert with triangles. These symbols are easily understandable and can let pedestrians know if they should cross or not.

How Does It Work?

Whenever a car approaches an intersection, it can recognise the pedestrians standing by and let them know that the car sees them by displaying any of the above-mentioned symbols. To let the pedestrians know that it is safe to cross, the LED strips will display a green arrow and when the car is about to set off, it can display a red triangle to let them know it's not safe to cross.

Is That A Robot?

Apart from this front grille display, Skoda is also working on a robot named “IPA2X”. This robot is over two metres tall and has sensors installed to check its surroundings and can see over parked cars. When it sees that the surroundings are clear, it rolls to the middle of the road to manage the crossing in a way that children, senior citizens and people with disabilities can cross the road easily.

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The robot also has a display that can show information to pedestrians and warn the approaching car to slow down and stop. IPA2X can also send a warning to the car which will be displayed on the infotainment display. Once the pedestrians have crossed, the robot then rolls back to the curb and sends a signal to the cars that they can drive off.

How Are They Helpful?

Given the lack of functional or reliable road safety infrastructure at most crossings in India, both the robot and the display-grille can be quite useful. While both pedestrians and vehicle owners are renowned for flouting the rules or simply being unaware of them, this technology can cut out the confusion and uncertainties that often lead to incidents at intersections.

While this technology is still under development and being worked on to be made better. It could be a very helpful tool in areas with heavy traffic, giving both the pedestrians and the drivers their own time to move and allowing them to communicate with each other more easily. Would you like to see this technology in India? Let us know in the comments below.