As installed in the Lexus RX 450h, Lexus’ Intelligent Adaptive Front Lighting System is a driver assistance that modifies the direction of the headlights in reaction to steering inputs and vehicle speed, effectively pointing the low-beam headlights towards the corner and improving your view.
The system is set to be activated by default, but if you’d like to temporarily turn it off, follow the instructions in the tutorial video below or continue reading for a step-by-step ‘how to’.
- Press the “MENU” button on the Lexus RX’s steering wheel, then use the arrow buttons to cycle through the options until “AFS” appears on the dash display.
- By pressing the “ENTER” button on the steering wheel, the system is turned off and the dash display indicator changes to “AFS OFF.”
- To return to the main display, click the “MENU” button one more time.
- Repeat the process to change the display from “AFS OFF” to “AFS ON” to re-activate the system. Resuming operation is the Intelligent Adaptive Front-Lighting System.
In This Article...
What does the Lexus AFS light mean?
The term “adaptive front-lighting system” (AFS) refers to headlights that turn in the direction a car is turning, illuminating more of the road in that direction rather than straight ahead.
Many automakers, including Honda, Mazda, Toyota, and others, refer to adaptive front illumination. They are also known as adaptive headlights or curve-adaptive lights, and other manufacturers have their own brand names for them, like the Genesis Adaptive Cornering System and the Porsche Dynamic Light System.
What does the AFS off light imply when it illuminates?
When it is safe to do so, pull over to the side of the road and turn off the engine if the AFS indication illuminates and begins blinking while you are driving. When driving with the ignition switch in the ON (II) position, if the AFS indicator blinks continuously or blinks once more, the AFS is malfunctioning (see page ).
What does it signify when the AFS off light illuminates?
Turn off the engine and pull to the side of the road when it’s safe if the AFS indicator illuminates and begins blinking while you’re traveling. When the ignition switch is turned to the ON (II) position while driving, the AFS indicator should stop blinking. If it blinks again, the AFS is malfunctioning (see page ).
What does AFS imply on a car?
A well-illuminated field of view is one of the most crucial elements in reducing driver tiredness and enhancing safety during nighttime driving. According to the conditions of the road, the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) improves the distribution of headlight light. The device directs the low-beam headlights in the direction the driver desires to go based on vehicle speed and steering input.
The technology improves the driver’s field of vision and visibility around curves and at intersections during nighttime driving by illuminating a greater distance and brighter than halogen headlights do. When combined with auto-leveling, the technology provides a consistent light distribution that is unaffected by the location of the vehicle. When a car’s back is loaded down with a lot of people or luggage, its position varies when driving over a bump or up a slope, and the system maintains the lighting axis, it helps keep drivers of incoming vehicles from being blinded.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND IT
Adaptive headlights are not permanently locked in place like regular headlights, which are only able to illuminate the area directly in front of you. These headlights use electronic sensors that use your steering angle to determine which way to swivel in accordance with the direction of your car.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Use these headlights as you normally would, and be aware of any objects or other cars they may be shining on, especially when driving around curves. Always look ahead when driving to check for potential risks or impediments.
TIPS FOR USING IT
- As you approach a curve, slow down and exercise caution.
- It’s a good habit to look toward the white lines on the side of the road in front of you when approaching oncoming automobiles with your high lights on to assist protect you from being blinded.
- Avoid oversteering at all costs or you risk losing control if you don’t respond quickly enough to a hazard.
What does VSC on a Lexus stand for?
VSC, or “Vehicle Stability Control,” is a safety function in your Lexus ES that aids in preventing skidding if you lose traction when driving through Long Beach.
How can I determine if I have AFS?
When you start the car with the lights on, if your lights move left and right before immediately returning to the center, you have AFS. According to my recall, the AFS won’t work when the car is at a stop; following initial calibration, the lamps must move when the car is going.
What does the Lexus AWD system do?
In order to increase traction, the Lexus AWD system automatically distributes power between two or four wheels, varying the distribution from 50/50 to 30/70, as necessary. Cornering Control is a component of this technology that can control oversteer and understeer.
How is AFS light operated?
Modern vehicles dynamically change the headlights to try to improve nighttime vision. In this post, we’ll first look at this technology’s benefits. The fundamental building blocks and design issues will then be briefly covered.
Introduction
The goal of adaptive front lighting systems (AFS) is to dynamically change the vehicle’s headlights to provide the driver with the best possible nighttime visibility without endangering the safety of other road users. When the car steers or the road is uneven, the AFS uses stepper motors to regulate the headlight angle. Additionally, the adaptive mechanism seeks to prevent a direct glare from hitting approaching cars. It makes use of headlamps with an array of LEDs.
Some of these LEDs automatically dim depending on where the approaching car will be. In this manner, the driver’s side is dimmed while the area around the approaching car is lit. The position of the approaching vehicle is discovered by the AFS using image sensors. Figure 1 demonstrates how the AFS modifies the headlights to lighten the approaching car’s driver side.
What is control of adaptive lighting?
To increase the safety of nighttime transportation, a new lighting concept called Adaptive Light Control (ALC) is being developed. By continuously adapting the headlamps to the current driving situation and environment, ALC enhances the headlamp lighting. The transition from offline to online (real-time) simulation of light distributions in the driving simulator has been completed successfully in order to ensure rapid prototyping and early testing. The interactive creation of novel light distributions in various driving scenarios and environments was made possible by this real-time simulation. To enable additional testing under real-world driving situations, the solutions are immediately ported to actual vehicles.
Results of the development of moveable headlights are reported in this study. Path prediction based on vehicle dynamics and navigation system route vectors is used to regulate these headlights. An introduction of the fundamental idea behind the Adaptive Light Control system is provided, along with an illustration of the differences between static and dynamic light distributions.
Are Lexus’ headlights adaptive?
An major innovation is highlighted in the news releases from Lexus Global, Europe, and even Australia for the 2020 RX refresh: the inclusion of the first-ever BladeScan Type Adaptive High-beam System (AHS).
This is how it goes:
In a first for the automotive industry, BladeScan technology has been added to Lexus’ innovative LED Adaptive High-beam System (AHS) to improve nighttime driving safety. A lens receives light from a lens that is delivered to two blade mirrors that are spinning quickly from an LED source. This light illuminates the road in front of you. By coordinating the rotation of the blade mirrors with the on/off of the headlights, the dispersion of light is accurately regulated.
As a result, RX drivers can see dimly lit areas like road shoulders and spot pedestrians and traffic signs far earlier without compromising their overall visibility or blinding cars going the other way. With BladeScan technology, pedestrian identification at night has increased to 56 meters (184 feet) in front of the Lexus, up from 32 meters (105 feet) with the prior system (Array-type AHS).
The aforementioned picture plus this all-too-brief film serve to better demonstrate the concept:
However, why aren’t the United States and Canada using this innovative technology?
You can hold the 1967 law governing vehicle headlights, U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, responsible. The main problem with the BladeScan AHS is that there is only room for one low beam and one high beam option. No intermediate settings are allowed, using both low and high beams at once is prohibited, and the low-beam headlight candlepower restrictions are insufficient.
FMVSS-108 has previously undergone revisions and updates, however the procedure moves slowly and necessitates a plethora of research, assessments, official evaluations, public hearings, comment periods, and input from interested parties.
Toyota, the parent company of Lexus, took the initiative to legalize fully adaptive headlights in the US back in 2013, and Audi and BMW followed suit in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The problem is still unresolved, as accounts from October 2018 and April 2019 serve as a reminder.
But why, despite having more tolerant headlight laws, does Canada have to deal with this American bureaucracy? A hunch would be that the Canadian facility in Cambridge, Ontario will serve North America while the Kyushu plant in Japan will produce Lexus RXs with BladeScan headlights.
What does front lighting that is advanced mean?
A word used to describe lights that can automatically adjust to shifting driving circumstances is “advanced forward lighting system.” A variety of sophisticated forward illumination systems are available:
- When a car is turning at an intersection, cornering lights should be used to shine light 90 degrees in each direction.
- Auto-dimming headlights: When the system detects lights from an approaching vehicle, they will automatically adjust from high to low beams.
- Adaptive front lighting: alters the direction and pattern of the beams in accordance with the direction and speed of oncoming traffic
- Adaptive driving beams: By selectively turning off a portion of the lights, these lights perform like high beams without blinding other drivers.
As the vehicle turns a bend, the headlights automatically follow the arc of the road.
At an intersection, the car is making a right turn. It can see the path it will travel thanks to the right headlight’s illumination of the intersection’s road.
The car’s headlights dim as it gets close to an approaching vehicle, then they brighten again once the approaching vehicle has past.
As the car passes an approaching vehicle, a portion of its right headlight dims to prevent blinding the approaching driver.