Velocity Variable Headlight

Beginning the Design Process January 31, 2006

Yesterday we met during the appointed laboratory time to discuss final project design ideas and concepts. While we have tentatively decided on an idea, we are still hoping we can come up with something better before the preliminary report is due next Monday. We’ll have opportunities to meet today and on Thursday to discuss any other ideas that may come to us from lecture. For now, this is what we have decided upon:

Speed Variable Automotive Headlight Adjustment

The basic concept is rather simple. Instead of constantly focusing the lights of an automobile at a specific distance regardless of speed, we can automate a system that adjusts pitch and focal length of the lights to illuminate the road and or terrain depending upon the speed of the vehicle. When traveling at low speeds (or stopped), the driver does not necessarily care about the road 1000+ yards away. He or she is more focused on the ground directly ahead in the immediate vicinity of the car. At low speeds the lights would be focused in a flood pattern and angled at the ground. As the car increases velocity, the lights would begin to focus and pitch upward to illuminate more of the road directly ahead. At high velocity, the lights would act in the manner of high beams do (of course limited in pitch so as not to affect the vision of fellow drivers). For now it appears as though building a prototype on a car would be too costly and difficult to demonstrate at the end of the academic semester. So, for now we plan to build and test a system on a bicycle as a proof of concept.

However, this could all change if we come up with something better in the next few days.