Land Rover has introduced some new technological upgrades for the Discovery Sport.
Sun Load Sensor
The Discovery Sport features a sun load sensor on the dashboard that measures the intensity of the sun’s rays every 200 milliseconds, automatically adjusting the air conditioning to counteract solar gain through the windscreen.
When driving out of the shade into the sun, the system imperceptibly increases the output of the air conditioning, even taking into account the angle of the sun to combat its effect on cabin temperature. Cabin humidity is also measured, with the air conditioning finely adjusted to achieve the programmed temperature.
Sensing its Surroundings
The Discovery Sport is available with Dual Zone climate control with an air quality sensor, which monitors humidity and smog levels. Once it detects high pollution levels, the system switches automatically to re-circulation mode. Rain sensitive wipers activate autonomously according to the conditions, while a sensor fitted to the windscreen automatically detects and clears windscreen misting.
In the event of driving through water, ultrasonic sensors fitted to the underside of the door mirrors measure the distance from the mirror to the water surface. The Wade Sensing control unit then calculates the depth of the water, taking into account any forward or backward tilt of the vehicle, before displaying the depth on the touch screen, emitting an audible warning signal to warn that the vehicle is approaching its maximum wading depth.
Stereo Camera
An advanced stereo camera mounted alongside the rear view mirror scans the road ahead looking for vehicles as potential obstructions. The 3D imaging camera covers a 50-degree horizontal field of vision and spans up to 50 metres.
It can detect when the vehicle is leaving the current lane without the turn signal, and will vibrate the steering wheel to warn the driver accordingly, a feature known as Lane Departure Warning.
High Beam Assist
The stereo camera also automatically activates and dips the beam to avoid dazzling other road users when an oncoming vehicle is detected. This ‘High Beam Assist’ function dips the headlamps within 500 milliseconds – faster than a traditional driver-operated switch.
Similarly, the auto-dimming rear view uses two sensors and instantly adjusts to maintain the optimum brightness to ensure another vehicle can’t dazzle the driver. A forward-facing sensor in the rear view mirror can measure the amount of light available to the driver, while a second rear-facing sensor scans up to 1 000 metres behind, monitoring the lights of upcoming vehicles.
For example, on dark rural roads the front sensor detects the low level of ambient light and can recognise that the driver will be more susceptible to glare. If the sensor then detects a vehicle behind with bright lights, the mirror will be darkened. If the driver is in a well-lit city, the mirror will only fade by a small amount.