STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TECHNOTEAM AND LMT BERLIN

Joint Development and Marketing of
Camera-Based Goniophotometry for Automotive Lighting Testing

 

Conformity and quality in automotive lighting is characterized by front and rear lighting which delivers optimal road illuminance and vehicle visibility without causing disabling glare. To enable this, front and rear lighting components are designed and approved on the basis of precise brightness and distribution data generated by goniophotometric systems. Faced with sheer numbers and increasing complexity of vehicle lighting projects the global automotive lighting industry requires greater quantities of distribution data in shorter intervals, a demand that traditional goniophotometric methods of data generation cannot meet.

The strategic partnership between LMT and TechnoTeam will combine the swiftness of digital imaging systems with the accuracy of traditional goniophotometers. The ensuing technology will provide the automotive lighting industry with a family of enhanced goniophotometric systems which significantly reduce measurement times currently required. The cornerstone of the partnership are methods of multi-sensor based goniophotometry enabling rapid acquisition of lighting distribution data and protected under jointly owned patents in Europe, USA, China, and Japan.

Currently, automotive front and rear lighting distribution data are generated through direct line-scanning by a conventional goniophotometer over the surface of emittance of the light source. The patented methods generate the same light distribution data in a fraction of the time by means of screen-based indirect, single (or few)-shot measurement by digital imaging technology at a reflective screen. By combining camera and goniometer, successive images of the light distribution are projected onto the screen, recorded, and stitched together by sophisticated software into a complete distribution panorama. Time-consuming line scans are thus bypassed. Parallel measurements of the panorama data at a few points by a very finely corrected photometer with a high dynamic range corrects inherent spectral mismatch and spatial straylight of the distribution when gathered by camera only. The resulting light distribution data has the same quality as that gathered by means of a traditional goniophotometer.

Each partner will contribute from its core competency to the solutions employing the technology: TechnoTeam Bildverarbeitung GmbH with CMOS camera-based imaging resolved light and color measurement hardware and software, LMT with goniometers, V(λ) adapted photometers and associated hardware and software for ECE/SAE conform characterization of automotive lighting products. The technology will be jointly developed and marketed in suitable technical combinations to both existing and new TechnoTeam LID rooms and LMT goniophotometric laboratories worldwide.