Helping to shape mobility

Developments such as climate change and increasingly overcrowded cities are making a rethink and better use of existing mobility concepts necessary. The mobility of the future should not only be greener, but also offer more safety and new comfort options. ZEISS is contributing to the mobility transformation with innovative and sustainable solutions.

Modes of transportation such as cars, trains and airplanes are indispensable in today’s world. They simplify daily life for people and give them the freedom to transport themselves and their goods quickly from place to place. Yet, environmental factors and societal trends are making a rethink and better use of existing mobility concepts necessary.

Two factors in particular are shaping the concept of the mobility transformation. One is the climate crisis, which is making a rethink on the use of fossil fuels and sustainable innovations necessary. The second is societal changes such as increasingly crowded cities with high mobility volumes. In addition, technological achievements such as artificial intelligence and increasingly powerful microchips are expanding options within mobility.

In summary, one thing is clear: the way we get around will and must change in the coming years. As a global technology leader, ZEISS actively helps to shape future mobility. The following examples provide an insight into the company‘s pioneering work in the field of mobility.

The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time, prompting countries worldwide to develop net-zero emission transition plans to mitigate its impact. In the global progression toward a low-carbon economy, the transportation sector, as a major contributor to carbon emissions, has drawn significant attention from governments around the world.

The automotive industry, the largest industrial sector globally, plays a crucial role in this context. In the context of the global low-carbon trend, the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) offers an effective means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, creduce energy consumption, and promote the transition to clean energy. In recent years, with NEV technology breakthroughs, NEV has become the first choice of more and more consumers.

Although numerous challenges remain on the road ahead, the opportunities are equally significant. In the transformation of OEMs, three key drivers—electrification, intelligence, and connectivity—fuel the growth of the NEV industry.

From a technical composition perspective, NEVs are primarily made up of four core components: the battery, e-motor, power electronics, and car-body. These components collectively ensure the excellent performance and reliability of NEVs.

“Over the past 30 years, ZEISS has established itself as a leader in the automotive quality inspection sector, building a broad and robust customer base,” says Bob Chen Global Head of Automotive & NEV Segment. “In the past seven years, the ZEISS has formed a NEV segment business team headquartered in China and launched the Project Apollo. The core of the Project Apollo is an application-driven mindset, emphasizing a deep understanding of customers‘ challenges in research, development, and production processes, rather than merely promoting existing products.”

Through extensive and long-term collaboration with leading OEMs and supply chain partners, ZEISS listens to their pain points and needs in R&D and production. Together, they explore and jointly establish NEV quality standards, and drive high-quality development across the entire industry chain.

Air traffic is on the rise. It is not just that more people and more goods are being transported by air: new aircraft such as drones and air cabs for regional air mobility, as well as supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, are increasing traffic congestion. Pilots rely on good visibility when they are flying. They have to make sure the flight is safe and the airspace is not congested.

ZEISS will support pilots in being better able to cope with challenges such as poor visibility and airspace becoming increasingly more crowded. For several years now, the company has been working on Advanced Head-up-Displays Multifunctional Smart Glass, which projects essential information such as terrain information or indications of obstacles and other road users directly into the pilot‘s field of view.

Dr. Dennis Lehr, part of the ZEISS Microoptics management team, describes these advantages as follows: “Primary flight data such as speed, altitude, position and flight direction can be read right ahead from within the field of view when looking out of the cockpit. A large field of view also makes it possible to display information adapted to the respective situation – in the interests of efficiency.“

Multifunctional Smart Glass uses holography to embed optical functions. “This gives a pane of glass a functionality and makes it part of the system itself,“ explains Lehr. The idea behind the technology was developed in the course of scientific space projects. It is intended to help pilots focus their attention as much as possible on the flight and the outside world. But it‘s not just aimed at aviation.

When asked about his motivation in his job, Davide Canavesi has a simple response: his children. His eight-year-old daughter has already learned to ride a bike. As a father, there are limits to the extent to which Davide can keep her safe. He can teach her the rules of the road, buy her a helmet and reflectors, but the behavior of other road users is beyond his control and unpredictable. Studies show that people only consciously process a fraction of their sensory impressions; out of a million impressions per second, there are only around 40.

Davide Canavesi is aware of this and says, “It‘s basically a game of chance. Everything should therefore be done to make this game safer.“ People's sensory impressions are fallible, as evidenced by the fact that over 90 percent of all accidents are due to human error. For this reason, as Head of Strategy and Business Development at Scantinel Photonics, Davide works daily on technologies that support people while driving. The company based in Ulm, a ZEISS spin-off, specializes in the production of FMCW LiDAR sensors.