Lighting Control

Lighting Control for Buses and Coaches

Whatever style and type of vehicle lighting you opt for, Teknoware has a wide range of lighting control options that enable you to create the desired mood for different situations and times of day. You can even adjust the interior lighting level within the vehicle according to exterior light conditions. In addition, you can also change the colour temperature of the lighting system, either as part of an active control system or as a separate lighting feature.

Our lighting systems can be integrated directly into your vehicle control systems, or they can be controlled using additional components that we supply. Our Lighting Control Units (LCUs) allow you to define which features you want to connect to your vehicle’s interior lighting system and how you want to divide the lighting inside the vehicle. We offer multiple features with many options to implement customized intelligent lighting for you.

The LCU can be connected to a vehicle’s own computer with input/output signals or via CAN-bus or with another similar network (RS-485, RS-232, etc.). The vehicle’s own computer could, of course, control the lighting, but another benefit of using an LCU is that diagnostics data from the lights becomes available. The LCU can send diagnostic data to the vehicle’s computer providing information which maintenance personnel can use when planning future maintenance work.

Colour temperature control

Colour temperature control makes a journey more comfortable and pleasant. The adjustable range for white lighting can be from 3000K (warm white) to 5000K (cold white), or even up to 7000K, with the adjustment between different colour temperatures being smooth. Any colour temperature within the range can be chosen.

Colour temperature control can have an influence on human activity, but this is not the only benefit of colour temperature control—it also has an influence on journey comfort. On a hot summer’s day, cold white lights inside a vehicle can create the feeling of being cooler, and vice versa on a cold day, warm white lights can create a feeling of warmth.

The use of red, green and blue (RGB) LED lighting can provide a wide range of colour variability enabling lighting fixtures to exhibit a certain colour. The brightness of the components can be adjusted separately, and thus almost all hues can be created. By using colour-changing RGB LEDs, different atmospheres can be created inside a vehicle for different purposes—for example illuminating a sports team’s bus in the team’s own colours. Different colour lighting can also be used to guide passengers inside a vehicle.

Active Lighting Control

Active Lighting Control uses sensors to adjust the interior lighting of a vehicle based on exterior light conditions. The control unit can be set to meet minimum lighting requirements, in which case the desired lighting level is obtained through the optimal use of the lights, resulting in minimal energy consumption and maximum LED lifetime.

The main aim of Active Lighting Control is to save energy during the daytime by decreasing artificial light inside the vehicle when daylight is available. Light sensors inside the vehicle measure the light levels, and the light control unit dims the artificial light when light levels are higher than required. The required level is set in the manufacturing phase of the vehicle and the required levels could also be preset at any time afterwards with a suitable adjustment tool. The required levels are stored in the non-volatile memory of the light control unit.

The achieved energy savings through Active Lighting Control could be as high as 40% per year. The amount of energy saved depends on the region where the vehicle operates. Energy savings are not the only benefit of Active Lighting Control. The lifetime of the light sources will also be longer. A longer lifetime is possible because the light sources can operate at lower power levels throughout much of the day.

With modern LED lights, the increase in lifetime can be a remarkable doubling of the LED lifetime. This is especially so during daylight hours when temperatures outside the vehicle and inside the roof of the vehicle are much higher than during the night. Active Lighting Control reduces the temperature of the LEDs by reducing their power, and it is common knowledge that temperature has the greatest influence on the lifetime of LEDs.

Range of Dimming Options

For vehicles where a simple dimming solution is sufficient, rather than the advanced Active Lighting Control, Teknoware has a range of dimming options available that offer a couple of fixed dimming levels. These simpler solutions still provide the core benefits of dimming such as energy savings and longer-lasting products, while providing the vehicle with different lighting levels for use in different conditions.