New-Tech Europe | March 2017 | Digital Edition

Automotive Special Edition

that can improve safety for drivers at night. This flexibility externally also transfers to interior lighting as LEDs are far easier to control than incandescent lighting. Their much lower size and weight also means that implementation of LEDs are simpler and they can be mounted with standard fixings such as clamps or adhesives - in fact in any way that allows any thermal build-up to dissipate evenly. LEDs are also evolving themselves, with new materials opening up new applications for vehicles. Galium Nitride technology, for instance, now allows LEDs to operate at greater efficiency and at higher temperatures. LEDs have had a profound effect on lighting in vehicles. These advantages are both in the large range of options that were unavailable using previous technologies, and in the degree of flexibility and control that they have given automotive designers. LEDs for interior use have presented designers with a choice of colors, brightness and intensity than ever before, while allowing them to account for changes in the environment. External lighting applications have also brought a huge amount of choice to designers for high power LEDs in a wide variety of colors. To give an example from one manufacturer, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors manufactures a wide range of LEDs and LED modules in precise color options. According to the manufacturer, the company’s OSTAR Headlamp Pro, “The color coordinates of the LEDs correspond to the white field of ECE/ SAE, in which the red component of the LED is greater than 5%.…".

the optimal number of lights and what the lighting will look like, both internally and externally. How can the lighting keep the driver alert, without feeling strained? Can he/ she locate and apply the controls easily? Applications LEDs are the main luminaire used in vehicular lighting design because of their long lifespan, low-power use, flexibility and huge range of coloring options. These lights can be found in the roof light, behind instrument and display panels, in the controls and switches, and even designed into door panels to provide the lighting for the driver to enter or leave the vehicle. There have since been many studies on every aspect of ambient lighting on emotions and perceptions in both vehicles and buildings, but the one mentioned earlier by BMW in 2009 remains the most comprehensive to date. This research has provided the most data for manufacturers on the psychology of automotive ambient lighting. Many other automotive manufacturers also use LED ambient lighting to make their own offerings stand out. Taking the lead for user customization is Mercedes Benz. The company’s high-end vehicles can offer customers a choice of seven different colors, five dimming levels and four dimming zones. LEDs have revolutionized almost every area of car lighting, most predominantly, so far, in headlights. As well as giving the inherent advantages we expect from solid state lighting, such as longer service life, higher efficiency and higher reliability, LED headlights provide a range of new features

Mercedes-Benz boast scientifically optimal lighting that is designed to enhance the brand, while giving the best possible experience to the driver. Lower-end manufacturers are also starting to implement some of the lessons learned from premium manufacturers. LED ambient lighting today has evolved from what was once purely cosmetic to improve the look and feel of a car’s interior and make the car “feel” that it is better quality, to an integral part of the car’s safety features. The ambient lighting can be set up to assist the driver when entering or leaving the car, easily see and activate the controls of the vehicle, while also helping the driver feel more relaxed. Of course, that is not to suggest that ambient lighting is merely cosmetic, it must be functional as well. For a designer, there are other aspects to consider in the design, such as Figure 2: The OSRAM OSTAR Headlamp Pro LED has scalable brightness, adapts to ambient conditions, and mounts many ways, including soldering to a flexible printed circuit board as shown

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