Flexible LED strip lights have become increasingly popular in recent years for use in various applications, from accent lighting to displaying notifications. One creative use gaining traction is incorporating flexible LED strips into automobile brake lighting systems. This innovative integration of lighting technology and automotive safety has the potential to make roads safer while adding some flair to vehicles.
Benefits of Flexible LED Brake Lights
Upgrading standard incandescent brake lights to flexible LED strips offers some key advantages.
Brighter Illumination
The LEDs used in flexible strips give off a very bright, crisp light that shines clearer than traditional bulbs. This makes the brake lights more visible, especially in inclement weather when visibility is reduced. The enhanced illumination better grabs the attention of drivers behind, giving them more time to react and increasing safety.
Faster Illumination Time
Along with being brighter, the LED strips activate and reach full brightness faster than incandescent bulbs when the brakes are applied. This decrease in illumination time again gives following drivers extra valuable reaction time to slow their vehicles. Just a fraction of a second improvement can translate to many more feet for braking distance.
Lower Power Consumption
Flexible LED strips are extremely power efficient compared to conventional bulbs, producing far more light output per watt. This reduces the electrical load on the vehicle’s charging system, freeing up juice for other electronics and accessories. It also indirectly helps save fuel by easing the engine’s charging duties.
Longer Lifespan
The longevity of LED lighting outpaces dated bulbs by years. The flexible LED strip lasts around 50,000 hours before degrading, whereas most brake light bulbs burn out before 1,000 hours of use. This equates to a one-time lifetime cost, with no bulb replacements required. It also eliminates the safety hazard of burnt-out lights until the next garage visit.
Greater Design Freedom
Often referred to as accent lighting, flexible LED strips enable all sorts of styling possibilities that need to be fixed with bulky bulbs. This allows automobile designers to experiment with innovative brake lighting concepts and styles. Integrating the slim LED strips into custom tail light housings can lead to new signature looks and enhanced visibility.
Technical Implementation
While the benefits are clear, reaping them requires proper technical planning and execution when integrating flexible LED strips into brake lighting systems.
Wiring Considerations
LED strip lights’ low voltage and polarity sensitivity means wiring them into the 12-volt direct current automotive electrical system takes some foresight. Protecting the strips requires removing the vehicle’s voltage to prevent shorts and overload. Regulations regarding brake lights also impact placement decisions.
Weatherproofing
Road vehicles live a tough life outdoors through all weather extremes. Flexible LED strips feature sturdy construction and decent ingress protection but require extra waterproofing and vibration mitigation when mounted on the exterior. Encasing the entire strip in marine-grade epoxy resin can provide this durability boost.
Thermal Management
The biggest enemy of LED lighting is excessive heat, drastically shortens the usable life if not controlled. Cool operating temperatures require heat sinks, thermal interface materials, and strategic placement to allow airflow. Monitoring strip temperature during testing stages allows tweaking designs to avoid overheating issues.
Control Integration
Tying the LED strip lighting into the existing brake control circuitry requires adapting signals and ensuring properly synced activation. Integrating basic control electronics provides benefits like adjustable brightness levels and self-diagnostics for status notifications to the dashboard.
Safety Certification
Extensive product testing and safety certification are mandatory before flexible LED strips can legally operate as automotive brake lighting. Simulated environmental testing and road testing under real-world conditions ensure all minimum legal visibility, illumination intensity, and response time regulations are satisfied.
Future Possibilities
As flexible LED strip technology advances while prices drop, adoption into brake light applications seems poised to accelerate. This opens up options for further creativity and enhanced capabilities as more segments of the automotive market are tapped.
Sequential Illumination Patterns
Linking multiple aligned LED strips allows programming animated illumination sequences for brake lighting. This could mean patterns that flow outward from the centre or oscillate from inside to out. Such captivating dynamic lighting can further boost visibility and catch drivers’ attention.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication
Looking farther out, ongoing V2V communication research by automakers could allow brake lighting information to be wirelessly shared between vehicles. This would let your car show notifications when vehicles ahead of you brake before they become visible. This early insight into slowing traffic patterns forward enables even safer proactive driving responses.
While flexible LED strip lighting traces its origins to accent lighting functions, the unique advantages this technology brings hold promising implications for the future of automotive safety as more applications come online. Continued innovation promises to unlock more potential bright ideas that advance LED integration further into core vehicle systems, like the LED brake lights by Purpose Built Moto. As the road ahead starts shining brighter, keep pace by staying abreast of the latest reflective thinking illuminating this emerging field.