Thread: MY18+ driving light high-beam trigger

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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

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.

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

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).

Originally Posted by 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).

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.

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.

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.