The lighting on today's vehicles is becoming increasingly sophisticated with stylists reducing the size and profile of the lens covers, using low powered arc lamps and "reflector only" designs.

Though mindful of fashion, the lighting designer must still make the lamp conform to European and US legislation. This means that the luminance requirements have to be translated into a matrix of constraints that will map light from the bulb onto the test grid. DIVERSE has considerable experience in solving this type of design problem for automotive lighting

By modelling the bulb and selecting the best form of the optics to meet the specification, using unique CAD tools for design, optimisation and analysis, DIVERSE can cut design time and eliminate risk before committing to the expense of manufacturing tooling.

"Reflector only" components
New designs for “reflector only” components need to consider freeform, nonparametric and parellipse solutions. Faceted reflectors are also a potential solution which DIVERSE has used. These new types of reflector surface do not lend themselves to simple approximations; our rigorous modelling methods mean that we can solve these design problems.

Heater Control Panel Lighting
This complex plastic lightguide takes light from PCB mounted incandescent lamps, transports it twice through 90° and illuminates the back of the graphics on the panel. Luminance, colour co-ordinates and balanced illumination were all considerations that required careful modelling. Tooling constraints had to be worked around and a high confidence in the design established before committing to a substantial investment in mould tool manufacture. The moulders are now producing 500,000 per year.

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