Automotive Industry Trends
November 2004
New Advances in Optoelectronics
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Advances in Optoelectronics will most likely allow the replacement of all incandescent lighting in automobiles within five years. The move away from incandescent lighting is attractive to the automotive industry for a variety of reasons, including market differentiation, part longevity and safety. Though in use in the industry now for fifteen years, optoelectronics has only more recently expanded in application and become a promising replacement for existing incandescent lighting technology.
What is optoelectronics?
Optoelectronics are semiconductor devices that convert electrical signals into photonic (or light) signals and vice versa. The most common of these devices are LEDs, or light emitting diodes. Optoelectronic technologies are used in fiber optic communications, laser systems, electric eyes, remote sensing systems, medical diagnostic systems and optical information systems.
These systems use low-output LEDs, which are strong enough for monitoring, sensing and indicator lamps – things that don’t require a lot of brightness. Low-output LEDs don’t work well for many automotive applications because of the need for bright illumination. However, there are current applications in use, as well as new developments that will eventually make LEDs the lighting of choice for interior and exterior automotive lighting.
LED technology benefits
LEDs provide durability, long life, and energy efficiency. Stricter standards for environmental friendliness make the expanded use of LED technology appealing because it is lead and mercury free. With their low power consumption, automobile electronic systems can perform better. LEDs are built to last, having an operating life as long as 100,000 hours. This life may even exceed the life of the vehicle, reducing warranty claims and improving customer satisfaction through fewer parts replacements over the vehicle life.
Equipment manufacturers appreciate the small size of LEDs. It gives them more design flexibility to make lighting more attractive to consumers, offering opportunities for style differentiation.
Safety is another advantage. LEDs made by Luxeon light up one million times faster than an incandescent bulb. Used as brake lights, LEDs illuminate much faster, giving a driver more time to react to a potentially dangerous situation. At 60 miles per hour, the stopping distance created by this faster illumination increases by 25 feet. Other manufacturers have similar response times. LED brake lighting is currently in use on some Toyota, Aston-Martin and BMW models.
New LED innovations are delivering style, allowing automakers to distinguish their car models to consumers. One such application is in the 2005 Ford Mustang, which features an adjustable color instrument cluster. Customers will be able to adjust the blue, red and green LEDs inside the instrument panel, for a unique look – 127 color possibilities to fool around with.
Recent advances in high-output white LEDs are paving the way for the total replacement of incandescent and halogen bulbs. Though not yet offering the brightness required for all forward lighting, the 2005 model year will see the use of LED as a replacement for halogens in daytime running lamps on the Audi A8.
Randy Frank, automobile electronics consultant, notes that the expanded uses for LEDs help manufacturers deal with limitations imposed by the 14 volt architecture currently in use with today’s vehicles. Reducing incandescent lighting applications lowers the wattage required for vehicle lighting. Freeing up this power gives automobile designers and manufacturers increased flexibility in designing new features that consume power, such as power steering in a large SUV or truck. This option was not available before without compromises in other design features.