INTELLilight; Revolutionising Heavy vehicle lighting
The Heavy vehicle sector had clear requirements: “We want intelligent lighting for our vehicles. It must be simple to zone and rezone the right lighting as and when needed. We want the lighting system itself to be able to recognise dangerous, disruptive, or aggravating situations that arise and act on them. It must be possible to adjust brightness manually or automatically, and personalised settings must be retained. And, furthermore, it must be reliable and deter theft.”
This was a demanding task but TYRI decided to meet this challenge head on. Head of Research & Development, Christian Wadell, was entrusted by the company to bring the needs of this sector to fruition. Today, after considerable development and testing, the products and services are now available, meeting the demands of the market and then some: Introducing TYRI’s INTELLilight.
“Like many other industries, we’ve had to think beyond our proprietary hardware; it is not only the hardware that needs to be developed in order to tackle tomorrow’s challenges. It is the system encompassing the lights that is able to create intelligent lighting. Since this is not currently available, TYRI has used its experience and technical knowledge to create its own unique system. We, quite simply, had to develop our own software from scratch in order to obtain a general communication platform for our lighting. Vehicle operators can now easily zone and rezone lighting around the vehicle by means of an app. In addition, you can set up sensors in the system which enable the lighting to act automatically, based on external situations, such as oncoming vehicles or ambient lighting,” says Christian.
The foundation of INTELLilight is being able to connect all lights in a closed network via Bluetooth. This means you get all the functions without additional cables, ensuring it is easy to install, even for existing vehicles. For a new machine design, INTELLilight enables you to simplify the vehicle’s electrical system significantly.
The lights are interconnected and registered in an app which can be downloaded to devices running iOS (iPhone) or Android. All lighting can then be managed through the app. The app allows you to zone, rezone, and isolate the lights depending on the work situation, and all information and settings are saved to the user. If a vehicle has multiple operators, the lighting adapts to the person logging in, which means the correct settings are always in place for each operator.
“INTELLilight improves the entire work environment for operators. You get personalised lighting that acts according to each unique situation. Furthermore, you can easily dim the lighting and adjust the colour temperature from warm yellow light to cold blue light. If you choose to integrate sensors into the system, the lighting itself will increase the comfortability by ensuring that the lights perform the desired actions in different situations. For example, by dimming the light when the vehicle’s own lighting dazzles the operator, or by setting the light sensor to dim the vehicle’s own lights when passing another vehicle head on or the oncoming vehicle’s lights. A radio-controlled system with an On/Off function also allows the lights to be switched on and off from a distance for increased safety.”
Because each light in INTELLilight is interconnected in a wireless mesh network, it is possible for every signal to an individual light to be transmitted via all the lights. This makes the system immensely reliable, and if one light fails the system is not disrupted. But the individual light must be active in the system in order for it to function. An anti-theft feature can also be activated which prevents the light from functioning outside of the system, so a stolen light becomes completely useless.
Since it was the market itself that presented its requirements, it was very important for TYRI to involve vehicle manufacturers as well as end users early in the development phase. One of the things developed by TYRI in this work was a gateway that integrates the system for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). Connection to the vehicle’s control system also allows for greater lighting automation.
“We received assistance in the form of valuable insights and favourable testimonials as we approached the finished product, and we are confident that we can now offer a solution for heavy vehicles that is completely unique. One might think that the automotive industry is at the forefront of all technological developments, but I can honestly say that, when it comes to certain aspects of lighting, they have a lot to learn from the technology that we have developed for heavy vehicles and which we are now proud to present,” concludes Christian.
INTELLilight is fully patented and ready to launch.
