A car rolls to a stop at a four-way intersection. A pedestrian waiting to cross, instead of looking for the driver’s eyes, checks a signal from a high-resolution display panel at car’s front end where the radiator grille would typically be.

Inside the car, the driver is doing whatever she wants: finishing paperwork before a conference call, watching a movie, taking a nap. 

It’s an imagined scenario involving the fully autonomous vehicles being developed by companies like Uber and Google. But teams of material scientists in Pittsburgh have already embarked on an effort to anticipate the experience and style that consumers will want, and the safety and design components that manufacturers will need.

The result of this early endeavor could be a factor in whether Robinson-based material science firm Covestro thrives in the coming years and decades as automakers face a wave of technological change.

Autonomous technology “is really quite the opportunity for us,” said Paul Platte, a senior marketing manager for Covestro. “Our theme right now is pushing boundaries.” 

Covestro has been building its brand since it spun out from Bayer, the German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant, in 2015. With about 14,000 workers worldwide, Covestro produces plastics and chemicals used in automobiles, insulation and electronic devices.

In other words, it supplies the raw materials to companies that make components for manufacturers to use in assembling vehicles. Since the automotive sector accounts for at least 20 percent of its sales, the company is trying to get ahead of the curve.

About two years ago, Covestro began drawing up a concept car — an autonomous vehicle that could be safe, functional and stylish, Mr. Platte said. It sought ideas from Swedish design students, and honed the suggestions into a model that was presented at K2016, an annual plastics trade fair in Germany, last October. 

Perhaps Pittsburghers, more than people in other places, can appreciate Covestro’s challenge. Many area residents have seen Uber’s gray, vaguely aeronautical vehicles on the streets here as autonomous vehicle research has accelerated at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center in the Strip District.  

Under Covestro’s model, the new self-driving vehicle’s most distinguishing feature would be hidden. The spinning sensor on top — which “sees” the vehicle’s surroundings with lidar technology, or light detection and ranging — would be tucked into the front end of the car.

The car’s body, coated by a wrap-around glazing made of transparent polycarbonate, would allow the lidar to pass through, Mr. Platte said.

While there could be a more optimal location for the lidar sensor to go, he added, the company’s intent was to show the possibility of hiding it.” Surface coatings could minimize the build-up of snow, ice, dirt and mud on this surface, he said.

Instead of a radiator grille, the front end would display a screen that could send information to pedestrians and — absent connectivity with other self-driving vehicles — other cars. 

“Think of basically a high-res display, not unlike a television, and then when a vehicle senses a pedestrian, it may say: ‘Please go ahead,’” Mr. Platte said.

While these features might draw attention, a substantial design challenge is found inside the car. Currently, vehicle interiors have a plethora of controls, which are designed for comfort and safety while the driver is fully engaged with operating the vehicle, Mr. Platte said.

In the self-driving future, drivers and occupants will want a space to enjoy their automated travel. That means having an interior adaptable to working, entertainment and resting or sleeping, he said. Eventually, controls like the steering wheel and foot pedals would be retractable or removed altogether, something vehicle makers have pushed for.  

Mr. Platte acknowledges that Covestro’s designs are progressing during early days for autonomous technology, which isn’t expected to be a feature sold in cars for the mass market for several years.

But the ideas can be applied to the growing fleets of electric vehicles, Mr. Platte said, which are similar in that they don’t require the technical components — such as air flow through a radiator grille — as cars powered by gasoline engine.

Rather than disrupt Covestro’s decades of research, Mr. Platte said autonomous technology “brings together many of the trends we’ve seen in the market.”

Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2743 and Twitter @PGdanielmoore.

First Published: January 26, 2017, 5:00 a.m.