Automotive strobe light system
An aftermarket Automotive Strobe Light System is disclosed that uses a vehicle's existing emergency flashers and activation button that are on all production vehicles. The existing flashers are activated as strobe lights using the existing emergency flasher button in a pre-programmed sequence using distributed strobe light control modules installed locally at existing flasher lamps and powered solely by the pulsed flasher signal. An auxiliary wire is also provided to power additional strobe lights if desired. Installing a set of unique strobe lights and activation switch are not necessary, eliminating the concern of modifying new vehicles.
1 . An aftermarket automotive strobe light system for a vehicle having factory corner flasher lamps and a factory emergency flasher activation button that produces a pulsed emergency flasher signal, the system comprising:
a plurality of independent strobe light control modules, each strobe light control module configured to be installed proximate to a respective factory corner flasher lamp and electrically coupled only in-line with a factory emergency flasher conductor and a ground conductor that normally power the respective factory corner flasher lamp;
each strobe light control module including a pulse-to-direct-current power circuit configured to derive operating power solely from the pulsed emergency flasher signal and to maintain module operation during OFF intervals of the pulsed emergency flasher signal, and a controller configured to monitor the pulsed emergency flasher signal at the respective lamp location;
wherein each strobe light control module is configured to detect a user-performed activation sequence generated exclusively by successive actuations, including at least one OFF-then-ON actuation, of the factory emergency flasher activation button and identifiable by a predetermined pulse count of pulses of the pulsed emergency flasher signal, and, in response to detection of the activation sequence, to locally interrupt and replace the pulsed emergency flasher signal with a higher-frequency strobe waveform delivered to the respective factory corner flasher lamp and to one or more auxiliary strobe-only lamps electrically coupled to the respective strobe light control module while the factory emergency flasher activation button remains activated;
whereby high-visibility strobe operation is provided to the factory corner flasher lamps and the one or more auxiliary strobe-only lamps using the factory emergency flasher activation button without accessing a vehicle communication bus or a centralized vehicle control module.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of independent strobe light control modules consists of four strobe light control modules positioned at respective front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right corners of the vehicle.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined pulse count comprises a first pulse-count range corresponding to a full-brightness strobe mode and a second pulse-count range corresponding to a reduced-brightness strobe mode.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the first pulse-count range includes four or five pulses and the second pulse-count range includes six or seven pulses prior to a user-performed OFF-then-ON actuation of the factory emergency flasher activation button.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the higher-frequency strobe waveform comprises a plurality of strobe pulses occurring during each single pulse period of the pulsed emergency flasher signal.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each strobe light control module operates independently of all other strobe light control modules without electrical, data, or synchronization communication between modules.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pulse-to-direct-current power circuit includes energy storage sufficient to maintain controller operation during flasher OFF intervals.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one strobe light control module includes a strobe-disable switch configured to inhibit strobing of a factory flasher lamp of a regulated color while permitting strobing of the one or more auxiliary strobe-only lamps electrically coupled to the same strobe light control module.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the factory flasher lamp inhibited by the strobe-disable switch is a rear red lamp and the auxiliary strobe-only lamps emit a non-red color.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one strobe light control module includes a wig-wag enable input configured to alternate strobe activation between strobe light control modules installed on a left side of the vehicle and strobe light control modules installed on a right side of the vehicle.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the wig-wag enable input is selectively enabled during installation and requires a supplemental steady vehicle voltage input separate from the pulsed emergency flasher signal.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each strobe light control module is installed using a vehicle-specific plug-and-play pass-through wiring harness having factory-matching connectors and requiring no cutting of factory wiring.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each strobe light control module is installed by splicing directly into the factory emergency flasher conductor proximate to the respective factory corner flasher lamp.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one additional strobe light control module is installed in-line with a flasher lamp circuit of a trailer electrically coupled to the vehicle, such that trailer flasher lamps strobe in coordination with the vehicle factory corner flasher lamps.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein two strobe light control modules are installed at respective left and right rear corners of the trailer.
16 . A method of adding high-visibility strobe capability to a vehicle using one or more strobe light control modules without installing additional dashboard switches or accessing a vehicle communication bus, the method comprising:
installing a strobe light control module in-line with each factory corner flasher lamp circuit using only an existing factory emergency flasher conductor and a ground;
powering each strobe light control module solely from a pulsed factory emergency flasher signal;
monitoring, at each strobe light control module, the pulsed emergency flasher signal for a user-performed pulse-count activation sequence generated by successive actuations, including at least one OFF-then-ON actuation, of a factory emergency flasher activation button; and
upon detecting the activation sequence, locally interrupting and replacing the pulsed emergency flasher signal with a higher-frequency strobe waveform delivered to the respective factory corner flasher lamp and to one or more auxiliary strobe-only lamps for a duration that the factory emergency flasher activation button remains activated.