Armed In Two-Thirds Of Its Bentaygas, The Advanced Deer Alert System (ADAS) By Bentley

Fitted in nearly two-thirds of client cars, Bentley armed its Bentayga with the sophisticated technology known as Advanced Deer (Driver) Alert System (ADAS).

Right off the bat, a key feature of the ADAS is Night Vision, which is a crucial tool to locate or detect any kind of animals wandering the roads at night.

The night vision consists of three main components, a Festive Isolating Reindeer (FIR or Forward Infra-Red) imager, an electronic control unit and the driver instrument panel. 

Said FIR imager is a thermal imager that captures infrared energy up to 140-metre ahead via fixed focus optics with a 24-degree to over 80-degree horizontal field of view beyond the vehicle. 

Mounted within the front grille of the Bentayga, the imager has its own wash outlet to clear road grime, dust and ice.

Furthermore, an electronic control unit (ECU) provides the control interface between the FIR imager and the vehicle. 

Primarily, it controls the FIR imager operation and contains the image processing functions of the digital image, the animal detection functions and the pedestrian warning system. 

With it, small animals of 1-metre in size can be detected from 7-metre in front of the vehicle, while larger animals of 2-metre and above can be detected up to 140-metre away. 

Plus, the thermal resolution of the system is sufficient to detect the tread pattern in tyres and other heat signatures, which the processed image is then output as a video to the display system.

Besides that, the view from the night vision system is shown on the driver information panel as a black and white image.

They come with coloured brackets and highlighting applied to detections as they are made dependent on their proximity.

Available when the headlamps are illuminated, the Night Vision system can be illuminated either manually or via the automatic function.

It assists the driver by providing additional vision beyond the headlights, providing another layer of feedback for the driver, beyond visual range but without taking control of the vehicle. 

Most importantly, said feature provides a genuine safety benefit, avoiding collisions when visibility is poor or when there is increased animal activity such as in the countryside. 

Expanding further, upon detecting that the vehicle is too close to an animal, the brake master cylinder is pre-filled in preparation for the driver to come to a quick stop. 

Additionally, complementing the ADAS and helping with the search are the 110 LED matrix headlamps. 

Interestingly, it uses a specifically calibrated forward-facing camera to detect the surrounding and oncoming traffic, enabling the all-LED lamps to individually adapt the main beam from each lamp. 

As such, by activating or deactivating 27 individual LEDs per lamp the beam pattern can be optimised, allowing the use of main beam illumination at all times.

All in all, this sophisticated innovation is another example of high-value British manufacturing at its best, boasting engineering expertise and cutting-edge technology unique to Bentley.