I want to talk about the sensors in the car, and you know, today it's not about the engine, but about the light sensor (or illumination). Many people ask me what it is, how it works and whether it is possible to do it yourself. It should be noted that the thing is really "cool", I would even say useful, as usual, I will tell you in simple words.
A light (light) sensor is a small photocell (with a small relay) that automatically turns the car's headlights on or off - usually the front dipped beam. This element measures the light level and decides whether to switch the lamps on or off. The device is fully autonomous and very convenient, it knows exactly when to turn on the light, for example - you drove into a valley underground crossing, you may not guess about the light, but the sensor in a few seconds will react. It also happens in the twilight, the drivers themselves, as a rule - are poorly oriented in this time of day, and electronics is never wrong.
What can I say, the cars are becoming more and more computerized, no one can be surprised by the box - a robot, automatic climate control, automatic search for radio stations, etc. To be honest - soon the cars themselves will be able to drive without a driver already have such developments, and I think it will be for our century. I just pressed a button on my smartphone, entered the coordinates, and it came for you, something like a taxi.
The light sensor is another step towards electronic control of the car, the work of turning on the headlights for you!
Principle of operation
As I have already written this kind of sensitive photocell (with relay), it is installed under or on the windshield of the car. This element measures the lighting next to it and decides whether to switch the headlamps on or off, which in turn goes to the ECU, or directly to the switch-off system. At the threshold value, the action is almost instantaneous - usually a delay of 2 to 3 seconds. That's why if you drive into a dark tunnel or an underground garage, the sensor will trigger after about this time.
System principle
Simply put, it's a kind of switch that works automatically and measures the light level around it.
Usually, the setting is only for the dipped beam of the car headlights, you need to turn on the high beam yourself. Because it is simply not safe, it can blind the car, going to your meeting.
How it works
Honestly, there are only two settings:
- This is a night mode. When the headlights only light up in the dark.
- Twilight. When the lamps start working at dusk when it is not so dark.
It is also possible to set the headlamps to "turn on and off" - for example, only near, near and fog lights. It is really convenient.
Usually realization of work of such gauges on the panel near a steering wheel. If the special mode is "AUTO", as well as the usual modes for manual activation.
AUTO
To activate the pen we transfer it to AUTO and that's it, it will work according to its settings.
I would like to note that in some machines, the system of delaying the headlight switch off is used. For example, you have muted the car in the garage, closed the door, put it on the alarm - and the lighting still works! This is done specifically to illuminate your road, for example, you close the garage at night - so you can see it. After 3 to 5 minutes, the headlights will automatically turn off. It's also a very convenient system.
For example, a friend of mine doesn't have any lighting in the garage and often uses it in the autumn, when it gets darker early in the winter.
What else do you get?
It should be noted that light sensors are now used not only in the dipped beam but also in the cabin or in the parking lights of trucks.
In the cabin - it can directly adjust the light level, light one or both of the interior lamps (front and rear). It is also convenient if the street is light, why burn the lamps in vain!
Special parking lights are mainly used to illuminate trucks. That is, they do not work in the daytime, even when the lights are on - but it is dark, the whole truck begins to glow. Made for safety!
Is it possible to install with your own handsю
Yes, of course, you can, no problem at all. If you have a foreign car with no light sensors in its "poor" equipment, look at them in the "rich". If there they are present, then you just need to buy them and install them yourself, or at least in the service station.
Often the dashboard already has a place to attach it. Also, you'll probably need another headlamp knob, which will include the AUTO mode. Or you just need to change the decorative background under the handle. As a rule, the mode is also already laid down.
Therefore, the whole installation comes down to buying a sensor - if you need a handle - and connecting it to a special board. On the forums on your model this information has already been worried a hundred times, I am sure of it.
Set
If you take a domestically produced car or a car that does not have such a sensor even in "high" configurations, it is a bit more complicated, you will have to buy and set up a fee as well.
However, "the features are not so terrible as it is being crippled" - in fact, the light sensor is a switch that opens the electrical circuit that goes on the headlights. It is in the gap and it is necessary to put. However, it is necessary to look for a place where to fix the photocell itself, however, this is the second question.