Matrix Light - Combining Styling, Functionality and Scalability

Andreas Moser, Günther Krenn

ZIZALA Lichtsysteme GmbH MIC Management & Innovation Center

Rottenhauser Str. 8 A-3250 Wieselburg

1  Introduction

Dynamic light functions in automobile lighting are as old as lighting itself. However, these functions only became practical and useful upon the availability of corresponding light sources as well as the possibility of automatic control by means of suitable electro- mechanical and optical systems. Bending lights and adaptive front lighting systems, as they are successfully implemented by HID systems, have meanwhile captured a substantial part of the market for vehicles from the mid-range upwards. Further development in the direction of higher functionality will continue in the interests of increasing   safety.

Whereas in the past the light distribution was only swivelled horizontally and the cut-off was adapted to the driving situation, it is now possible to adapt the entire light distribution to preceding and oncoming vehicles as well as other traffic participants and potential sources of danger outside the road.

With current lighting systems, this leads to an increase in mechanical complexity. On the other hand, high-power LEDs available today permit comparable light functions to be achieved without the use of moving parts. In the past few years, several concepts have been presented under the name of “LED matrix light” or “pixel light”. [1,2,3] The aim of these concepts was a segmented light distribution that achieves the  aforementioned  functions solely by switching different LEDs on and  off.

In this work, we present an entirely new concept for a matrix LED system that differs in important aspects from previously presented concepts. Our matrix system offers clear advantages in terms of styling, functionality and scaling while making use of LED packages that are already commercially available. In our modular concept multiple projection modules are combined into a complete system. Functionality and performance of the system can be freely selected by adjusting the number and layout of the modules within certain limiting factors. Our matrix light system can thus be easily adapted to the varying requirements of different vehicle classes. The system we offer can be implemented at various scaling levels from city- to premium upper-class vehicles, while offering plenty of design freedom for unique customer styling.