PPG Making Paint That's Easier for Self-Driving Cars to 'See'

Black and gray are among consumers’ top picks for car colors every year.

But in the universe of self-driving vehicles, those popular shades present a challenge.

Because dark surfaces absorb much more light than white ones, the infrared signals emitted from self-driving car sensors don’t bounce back as well from dark cars. As a result, it’s tougher for self-driving cars to see them as they navigate the road.

Paints giant PPG believes it has a solution.

It has developed coatings for dark vehicles that detect light in an under-layer and then reflect the signal back to the sensor before it’s absorbed too deeply.

That technology is one of several that the Downtown-based company is working on as it tries to capture a share of the emerging market for autonomous and electric vehicles.

Some of the developments — including the coatings that improve dark-vehicle detection and a coatings product for battery packs used in electric and hybrid vehicles — will be showcased at the North American International Auto Show, which runs Saturday through Jan. 28 in Detroit.

Also during the giant industry gathering, PPG executives will be panelists at a global forum on vehicle mobility.

Much of the research for these new coatings is being conducted at the Allison Park Coatings Innovation Center in Hampton, which is PPG’s global headquarters for research and development.

Supplying paints and coatings for cars and trucks is already big business for the company. Of $15 billion it generated in annual revenues in 2016, about one-third came from sales to the automotive industry.

Because it also produces paints for homes, heavy industry, packaging and airplanes, PPG has been able to tap technology developed for some of those sectors and apply it to self-driving vehicles, said Gary Danowski, vice president, automotive OEM coatings. OEM is industry jargon for original equipment manufacturer, such as automakers.

“Because of our broad spectrum of capabilities … we can reconfigure technology for another business unit,” Mr. Danowski said.

Take coatings that improve reflection on dark colors.

PPG has been designing reflective technology for its aerospace coatings unit for over a decade. The company leveraged that work for its products for self-driving vehicles, said David Bem, vice president of science and technology and chief technology officer.

“We’ve been manipulating wavelengths from the color standpoint for a long time,” he said.

That technology also has potential to be applied to bridges and other infrastructure so they can be better identified by self-driving vehicles, he said.

Among other challenges for autonomous cars is keeping their sensors and cameras clear of snow, ice and dirt.

PPG’s “easy-to-clean coatings” were developed to allow obstructions to wash away and “keep sensors working reliably,” Mr. Bem said.

“If a sensor is covered with snow, we’re working on making the snow fall off.”

For electric vehicles — which Mr. Bem called “a very large coatings opportunity” — the company has developed products to protect the metal parts in cell packs that contain the batteries that power the vehicle.

Special coatings are also needed to regulate the temperature of the batteries, he said.

“If you’re going to charge and discharge a lithium battery quickly, you need to manage the heat.”

Some of PPG’s coatings for self-driving and electric cars are already getting a ride on test vehicles.

The company declined to name specific customers who may eventually use them for commercial vehicles. The approval and certification process can take several years, Mr. Danowski said.

“We recognize we are a complementary part to a bigger solution,” Mr. Bem said. “And we are agnostic as to who wins what. We want to be ready with a solution set.”