Article Abstracts | December 2006
The complete article appears in the December 2006 issue of Photonics Spectra. If you do not have a copy of this issue,
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Optimizing Automotive LED Lighting
Software eases the burden of complex design while producing thinner, more efficient and less expensive optics.
by Michael W. Zollers, Optical Research Associates
Headlights and taillights have been on automobiles for about as long as automobiles have had rubber tires, and filament lamps have provided their light for just about as long. The size and shape of the filament have kept the optical designs of these lamps relatively unchanged, with breakthroughs occurring primarily in the materials used to make the reflectors and the lenses. The next big change, however, is a move away from the filament and toward LEDs in all automotive lighting.
LED lamps have been on vehicles for about a decade, and most of today’s designs use scaled-down versions of the same type of optics found in filament lamps. The reason for this is twofold: First, the design and manufacture of these optical systems are well understood; second, using any other type of optical system introduces additional costs and increased manufacturing risks...
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