Hey CPF, I've been lurking for quite some time after I recently sold my BMW M3, bought a Jeep JK (horrible stock lighting) and moved to Bend, Oregon (where it happens to be really, really dark at night - few streetlights, small ambient light footprint from the small town of 80k people and desolate roads outside of town).
As I've read through the different auxiliary lighting threads, and hearing about the different light spread patterns, hot spots, artifacts, and trade offs, my question is this:
What is the engineering challenge behind optimizing the optics for a truly pleasing, even spread of light in either spot, driving, or nearfield solutions? Although I'm not an engineer, I studied to be one in college, and it would seem to be a relatively simple physics problem, to bend the light in the correct way either with reflectors or lenses, to create the optimal light pattern desired But it must be more difficult than I imagine, because the lights vary so much and we read of these hot spots, and dark spots, and other artifacts. Is it because the light being produced by the filament or other source is not consistent? It must also be because the light coming from the source is not one-directional (all beams coming in a straight line from the source).
I realize that the different manufacturers have different goals for each light, but there would seem to be a mathematically optimized solution that says a driving light should have X pattern, a nearfield (fog lights) should have Y pattern, and then based on the bulb build the optics to produce exactly the desired pattern, in an event, optimally dispersed way.
Another way to state the question is "Against what constraints are the engineers who are designing the lights working against?"
Hopefully this post makes sense.
Incidentally, I've purchased JW Speaker Evolution 8700 J lights for my Jeep, and am considering adding Hella 4000 auxiliary lights (probably LEDs) once I've lived with the JW Speaker units for a period of time. And although I miss my M3, I have to say owning a Jeep JK Unlimited has been some of the most fun I've had with a vehicle. The Jeep far exceeds my expectations.
As I've read through the different auxiliary lighting threads, and hearing about the different light spread patterns, hot spots, artifacts, and trade offs, my question is this:
What is the engineering challenge behind optimizing the optics for a truly pleasing, even spread of light in either spot, driving, or nearfield solutions? Although I'm not an engineer, I studied to be one in college, and it would seem to be a relatively simple physics problem, to bend the light in the correct way either with reflectors or lenses, to create the optimal light pattern desired But it must be more difficult than I imagine, because the lights vary so much and we read of these hot spots, and dark spots, and other artifacts. Is it because the light being produced by the filament or other source is not consistent? It must also be because the light coming from the source is not one-directional (all beams coming in a straight line from the source).
I realize that the different manufacturers have different goals for each light, but there would seem to be a mathematically optimized solution that says a driving light should have X pattern, a nearfield (fog lights) should have Y pattern, and then based on the bulb build the optics to produce exactly the desired pattern, in an event, optimally dispersed way.
Another way to state the question is "Against what constraints are the engineers who are designing the lights working against?"
Hopefully this post makes sense.
Incidentally, I've purchased JW Speaker Evolution 8700 J lights for my Jeep, and am considering adding Hella 4000 auxiliary lights (probably LEDs) once I've lived with the JW Speaker units for a period of time. And although I miss my M3, I have to say owning a Jeep JK Unlimited has been some of the most fun I've had with a vehicle. The Jeep far exceeds my expectations.
