Controllable shifting, steering, and expanding of light beam based on multi-layer liquid-crystal cells

Shaping and steering of light beams is essential in many modern applications, ranging from optical tweezers, camera lenses, vision correction to 3D displays. However, current realisations require increasingly greater tunability and aim for lesser specificity for use in diverse applications. Here, we demonstrate tunable light beam control based on multi-layer liquid-crystal cells and external electric field, capable of extended beam shifting, steering, and expanding, using a combination of theory and full numerical modelling, both for liquid crystal orientations and the transmitted light. Specifically, by exploiting three different function-specific and tunable birefringent nematic layers, we show an effective liquid-crystal beam control device, capable of precise control of outgoing light propagation, with possible application in projectors or automotive headlamps.

Design of ECU for Automatic Headlight Beam Control during City Driving

Automating the task of high beam switching will significantly reduce glare from oncoming vehicles and thus improving night time driving safety. To avoid temporary blindness and glare from oncoming vehicles, automatic high beam controller is developed by using an RF transmitter and receiver to control the high beam of the vehicle to low beam automatically while entering cities. This can be achieved by fixing RF transmitter at starting points of cities. Once a vehicle enters the city, the light beam control ECU in the vehicles receives signal from RF transmitter and the light beam of headlight of the vehicle is automatically switched to a low beam. Once the vehicle leaves the city by crossing RF transmitter the user input is enabled by ECU and the driver can change the beam either high or low manually according to his need. The circuit has been designed and simulated in the Proteus software and accurate switching of the high beam is achieved. This proposed system shows better performance, which will result in safe and glare-free driving at night times.