MY18+ driving light high-beam trigger

[Graeme]

A while ago I purchased a pair of LED driving lights, only to discover that my L405 with its Matrix headlights and with Advance Driving Beam enabled (turns off specfic high-beam LEDs that would glare oncoming traffic or traffic in front) doesn't have a usable high-beam wire to trigger a driving light relay. A module is available that connects to the HS chassis canbus but its cost is more than the cost of my lights and wiring harness so I set about building my own canbus high-beam trigger module. The trigger switches on when manual high-beam is in use but not when lights are in auto high beam or high-beam is flashed while in auto mode. Parts cost was minimal and canbus data analysis didn't take much time once I had canbus access working.
I made brackets and temporarily fitted the lights prior to developing the module but will refit them as soon as the wiring is done. Hopefully they will be a significant improvement over the Matrix lights on country roads as the Matrix lights have very little spread. The driving lights will only require the light stalk to be pushed forwards then released to switch back from manual high-beam to auto lights when traffic approaches or when coming up behind another vehicle.

[Ferret]

Any thoughts on commercialising a version of this?

[Graeme]

Producing a saleable version has definitely crossed my mind.

I'm waiting on the arrival of readily available smaller and cheaper canbus and Arduino modules which lend themselves to being mounted on a pcb along with the few components to power the relay coil so that I can design a pcb. I want a tidy pcb even for my own use to replace the current re-purposed pcb used to mount the components to convert IC signals to 12V for the relay coil.

To use canbus data as a high beam trigger, a connection to the appropriate 2 canbus wires is required for which I used the wires at the RH head-light connector. Power and earth connections are also required.

Edit: I expect all late model LRs use the same canbus frame ID and data for headlights.

Edit2: Allowance has been made for a switch mounted on the module to be set to switch on the relay whenever high beam is on, regardless of whether or not the lights are in auto mode. Using this option would require the driving light switch to be used to switch off the driving lights to get ADB to work properly instead of flicking the stalk to switch to and from manual high beam.

[BradC]

Would it be easier just to use a PIC with a built in CAN transceiver?

[Graeme]

I'm not aware of those and don't know PIC either, but I didn't know how to access a canbus either a week or 2 ago. Do you have a link? (Edit - no need now)

Connecting an Arduino to a MCP2515 CAN module is very simple providing the Arduino has all the SPI lines brought out to pins (a Pro Micro doesn't) but a processor and can module on the same pcb presumably requires less real estate.

[BradC]

Looks like the EOL'd them. Same as the PIC with the built in voltage reg and LIN transceiver I've been using. Quite a few Atmegas with built in CAN modules but they all need the MCP2551 transceiver like the PICs now. They'd probably be easier to drive, faster and smaller footprint, but if you're already tooled up for the MCP2515 then there's probably very little difference.

Sorry, for some odd reason I thought you based LLAMS on PICs and were tooled up for that architecture.

[Graeme]

The frames that I'm using only occur at 100/s with all other frames excluded by the 2515 filters, so very light work for an Arduino.

[RANDLOVER]

I saw a similar problem for a guy who had a Jaguar I-pace and wanted spotties, but no suitable mounting points on those, so had to settle for a number plate mounted light bar, and used a wireless sender, IIRC 433Hz to a relay in the high beam cct to switch the power to the LED bar.

[Graeme]

Unfortunately the lights don't have any nearby spread to speak of, seeming to not provide much extra verge light although possibly only in comparison to the gross extra light straight ahead. The left bracket needs a tweak to allow the light to be aimed straighter ahead but once aligned, lighting down the road will be much better than the now feeble high-beam and perhaps the lighting of the verges will indeed be improved. At least now I'll see roos ahead that are already at the roadside or in the middle of the road.

[RANDLOVER]

Not sure about the new led spotties if you can get different patterns like the good old halogen ones, when people would fit a "pencil" beam to the right and a "flood" to the left. With the all the different led segments in the new lights I'd think they could even make a hybrid with pencil and flood segments all in the one light.

[Graeme]

They indeed do, with varying degrees of flood, but those versions are at a premium rather than a budget price. Lights such as the Kings $300 7" Lethal Pro are probably what I would like and whilst they seem to be at the cheaper end of the scale for similar lights, they're nearly 3X what I paid, weren't available at the time and I wouldn't have spent that much on lights that are at risk of being damaged or stolen when I haven't needed extra lights since ftting HID inserts into my D4's high-beam fill-in lights 15 years ago. I comes down to that I don't do much night driving so don't get the use out of expensive lights but when I do which is always on country roads, the standard lights aren't adequate.

These lights might end-up on my harvest truck if I splurge on a set of Lethal Pro when they're on a decent daily special price. I currently swap a light bar between my tractor and the truck.

Edit: These lights are quite acceptable at lighting the verges now that one isn't pointing out onto the paddock leaving a large unlit area to the other one.

[Graeme]

I had an occasion to use the mix of ADB and driving lights at 110 kph. These driving lights indeed throw sufficient light to the verges at this speed and a seemingly wasteful amount further ahead. The lights won't be relegated to the harvest truck.

[rangeyrover]

A while ago I purchased a pair of LED driving lights, only to discover that my L405 with its Matrix headlights and with Advance Driving Beam enabled (turns off specfic high-beam LEDs that would glare oncoming traffic or traffic in front) doesn't have a usable high-beam wire to trigger a driving light relay. A module is available that connects to the HS chassis canbus but its cost is more than the cost of my lights and wiring harness so I set about building my own canbus high-beam trigger module. The trigger switches on when manual high-beam is in use but not when lights are in auto high beam or high-beam is flashed while in auto mode. Parts cost was minimal and canbus data analysis didn't take much time once I had canbus access working.
I made brackets and temporarily fitted the lights prior to developing the module but will refit them as soon as the wiring is done. Hopefully they will be a significant improvement over the Matrix lights on country roads as the Matrix lights have very little spread. The driving lights will only require the light stalk to be pushed forwards then released to switch back from manual high-beam to auto lights when traffic approaches or when coming up behind another vehicle.
Hi Graeme,
Care to share the CAN frame for the High Beam trigger?
I was considering implementing driving lamps with a double flash of the main beam within 1 sec or so to put the DL on with the main beam.
I'd like to have curved LED behind the grill in my case.
Thanks
RR

[Graeme]

I chose x015D record-id and test byte1 (of 0-7) for x03 for high beam is on (includes low beam), whether that be due to auto lights on high beam or manual high beam, and test byte2 bit 6 (auto lights) not on if the module confguration switch is set to require auto lights not on. Byte2 is used for other purposes so it isn't appropriate to check for a byte value. The configuration switch allowed for isn't for my use.

I have designed a pcb that fits in a small Jaycar box but don't know when I'll have a few pcbs made, as currently I won't need other pcbs for a while and the shipping cost for such a small order is disproportionately expensive. The design allows for another output in case another use for a CAN tap is found.

My driving lights can only be on when in manual high beam mode as I want to toggle between auto lights and manual high beam. When switching from manual high beam with driving lights to auto lights high beam, the high beam LEDs directly ahead are initially off, switching on after a few seconds of no intense light straight ahead only if no oncoming vehicle. This works well when a vehicle appears over a rise that wasn't detectable due to the intensity of the driving lights, thus only low beam straight ahead for the oncoming vehicle. I'm now very accustomed to flicking the stalk forwards momentarily to swap between manual high beam and auto lights. It is much faster than having to find the driving light switch on the side of the steering column to turn it on and off.

Edit: If the vehicle doesn't have LED headlights or it does but ADB isn't enabled then a high beam trigger can be sourced at a headlight rather than install a CAN module.

[rangeyrover]

Thanks.
I was thinking about grabbing one of these for the switching and 3d printing a case.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/314870492139
if i can persuade them to ship to Aus

[Graeme]

I couldn't see what model Arduino it would be but it looks similar to a Nano (edit: states Nano). It would fit in a Jaycar HB6006 which has a snap-fit top. It's more compact that my design which uses 2 distinct modules mounted on another pcb.
Is it programmed for a specific use? Regardless, I suspect that it would run my program but might require a different library for the MCP25625 module. (No, the 2515 library also supports the 25625).

[rangeyrover]

I couldn't see what model Arduino it would be but it looks similar to a Nano (edit: states Nano). It would fit in a Jaycar HB6006 which has a snap-fit top. It's more compact that my design which uses 2 distinct modules mounted on another pcb.
Is it programmed for a specific use? Regardless, I suspect that it would run my program but might require a different library for the MCP25625 module. (No, the 2515 library also supports the 25625).

Hi Graeme, it's a custom designed Nano with a CanBus built in, programmable like an arduino. They haven't responded to my request for shipping to Aus so its probably irrelevant.

[Graeme]

The item is listed on the au ebay so I assume they would send to au.
I got the idea that it isn't programmed at all, only providing the hardware package.

[Graeme]

That device would still require transistor(s) and other components to switch a relay whereas my design includes a power P-FET to supply 12V to a relay coil similar to a high beam tap. Also that device doesn't have any connectors whereas my design has a screw terminal bank yet still fits in the Jaycar HB6006 box along with the Nano Arduino copy pcb and the MCP2515 CAN module for which my pcb was designed and would be in the same ball-park price-wise.

[Graeme]

I've ordered a few pcbs with a cheaper shipping. Hopefully I've done an acceptable job of the design.

[Graeme]

My bespoke high-beam trigger module is working, albeit with 2 schematic design errors that are easily overcome during assembly.
A red LED flashes dimly indicating that the selected headlight CAN messages are awaiting retrieval from the canbus module and a green LED is on whenever the high beam relay trigger is powered. It fits inside the small Jaycar HB6006 clip-togther box.