System and method for variable intensity patterns

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11064589-B2
Application number	US-201916254730-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 23, 2019
Priority date	Jan 23, 2019
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A system, method and storage medium for providing an emergency lighting includes generating, by a controller, a driving control signal; receiving, by a light source, the driving control signal; and emitting, by the light source, light based on the driving control signal. Intensity of the light emitted from the light source repeatedly ramps up and ramps down with a first period based on the driving control signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lighting system for generating a dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern, comprising:
a controller configured to generate a driving control signal;
a direct-memory access controller;
a serial-to-parallel converter; and
a light source comprised of a plurality of individual lighting elements and configured to receive the driving control signal and emit light from each of the plurality of individual lighting elements based on the driving control signal producing the dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern,
wherein intensity of the light emitted from each of the plurality of individual lighting elements ramps up and ramps down repeatedly with a first period based on the driving control signal,
wherein the minimum intensity of light emitted from each of the plurality of individual lighting elements is greater than zero, that the peak intensities of the light source can continuously be variable without completely turning off,
wherein the driving control signal is generated based on a plurality of intensity values of the light source computed by the controller, each of the plurality of intensity values corresponding to a respective time point, each ramp up and ramp down comprises a plurality of discrete time points each having a corresponding intensity value calculated based on a percentage value of the maximum light intensity of the lighting elements, and
wherein the driving control signal is generated such that at least one of a frequency of the dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern and the intensity of the emitted light produces a light flash pattern that is perceivable to a human eye.

2. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein at least one parameter of the driving control signal is gradually adjusted to have at least one intermediate value between a maximum value corresponding to a top peak of the intensity of the light and a minimum value corresponding to a bottom peak of the intensity of the light.

3. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein the driving control signal is based on a pulse width modulation signal, and the controller is further configured to adjust a duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal based on each of the computed plurality of intensity values to generate the driving control signal.

4. The lighting system of claim 2 , wherein the driving control signal is based on a pulse width modulation signal, and the at least one parameter of the driving control signal is a duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal.

5. The lighting system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
adjust the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal to a first duty cycle at a first of the time points, based on a first of the computed plurality of intensity values;
control the light source to emit the light with the first intensity value;
adjust the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal to a second duty cycle at a second of the time points, based on a second of the computed plurality of intensity values; and
control the light source to emit the light with the second intensity value, the second time point being adjacent to the first time point.

6. The lighting system of claim 5 , wherein the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal adjusted at the first time point is maintained until the second time point.

7. The lighting system of claim 5 , wherein the duty cycle of the driving control signal gradually varies between the first time point and the second time point from the first duty cycle to the second duty cycle.

8. The lighting system of claim 2 , further comprising another light source,
wherein the controller is further configured to generate another driving control signal, and the another light source is configured to receive the another driving control signal and emit another light based on the another driving control signal, and
wherein intensity of the another light emitted from the another light source ramps up and ramps down repeatedly with a second period based on the driving control signal.

9. The lighting system of claim 8 , wherein the second period is different from the first period.

10. The lighting system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the maximum value and the minimum value of the driving control signal is different from a corresponding one of the another driving control signal.

11. The lighting system of claim 8 , wherein the another light source and the light source are implemented with a light array bar.

12. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises a pulse width modulation driver configured to generate the driving control signal based on the plurality of intensity values.

13. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises at least one of a floating point unit and a real-time operating system.

14. A method for driving a lighting system for generating a dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern, comprising:
generating, by a controller, a driving control signal;
receiving, by a light source comprised of a plurality of individual lighting elements, the driving control signal; and
emitting, by each of the plurality of individual lighting elements, light based on the driving control signal producing the dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern,
wherein intensity of the light emitted from each of the plurality of individual lighting elements ramps up and ramps down repeatedly with a first period based on the driving control signal,
wherein the minimum intensity of light emitted from each of the plurality of individual lighting elements is greater than zero, that the peak intensities of the light source can continuously be variable without completely turning off,
wherein the driving control signal is generated by computing, by the controller, a plurality of intensity values of the light source corresponding to a respective time point, generating, by the controller, the driving control signal based on the computed plurality of intensity values,
wherein each ramp up and ramp down comprises a plurality of discrete time points each having a corresponding intensity value calculated based on a percentage value of the maximum light intensity of the lighting elements, and
wherein the driving control signal is generated such that at least one of a frequency of the dynamically variable emergency light flash pattern and the intensity of the emitted light produces a light flash pattern that is perceivable to a human eye.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein at least one parameter of the driving control signal is gradually adjusted to have at least one intermediate value between a maximum value corresponding to a top peak of the intensity of the light and a minimum value corresponding to a bottom peak of the intensity of the light.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the driving control signal is based on a pulse width modulation signal, and the method further comprises adjusting, by the controller, a duty cycle of the pulse with modulation signal based each of the computed plurality of intensity values.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the driving control signal is based on a pulse width modulation signal, and the at least one parameter of the driving control signal is a duty cycle of the pulse width modulation signal.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating, by the controller, another driving control signal
receiving, by another light source, the another driving control signal; and
emitting, by the another light source, an

Assignees

• Whelen Eng

Inventors

• Garrett Caleb
• Sousa Dave

Classifications

• B60Q1/46

  for giving flashing caution signals during drive, other than signalling change of direction, e.g. flashing the headlights {or hazard lights} · CPC title

• B60Q1/2611

  Indicating devices mounted on the roof of the vehicle · CPC title

• B60Q1/52

  for indicating emergencies · CPC title

• H05B45/10 Primary

  Controlling the intensity of the light · CPC title

• Y02B20/40

  Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection · CPC title