Custom 3rd Brake Light (Upd: 18th August)

[IAmOrion]

Currently working on a customised 3rd Brake Light - Arduino powered!

I purchased a Clear 3rd Brake Light from AliExpress - www.aliexpress.com/item/32904717645.html for £25, which arrived within 10 days so pretty good! Unclipped the plastics and separated the glued edges carefully, then removed the reflector and the PCB.

Cost Guideline for this project:

Clear 3rd Brake Light - £25 AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com/item/32904717645.html)
20 x WS2812B LEDs - £8.72 Amazon Prime (https://www.amazon.co.uk/WS2812B-board-integrated-controller-WS2811/dp/B01BVDRI2W/)
Arduino Nano - £3 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392310186169)
Long Header Pins (I cut each pin in half so got 2 per pin so to speak - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173975973658)
Voltage Dividers - £6 for 5, you only need 4 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/HALJIA-Voltage-Detector-Terminal-Arduino/dp/B076Q27P59/)
12v - 5v Buck Converter - £4 (www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06W54L3XK/)

Wire - £5 - any spare bits of wire would do - other wise you can get 10m for £5 here (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01CTY1ZD0/)

Because I do a LOT of electronics projects, I had the majority of stuff anyways kicking around - the only thing I had to buy was the brake light itself from AliExpress. Parts could be sourced cheaper from AliExpress I'm sure but obv can take a month for stuff to get delivered

I had some single WS2812B RGB LEDs - so dug out 20 of them...



I then had to drill the holes in the reflector using a conical drill bit just to make the holes a little larger to incorporate the LEDs... I went with "5/16" (I didn't have my mm conical drill bits to hand)





I then superglued all the LEDs in place - paying careful attention that they're all lined up correctly (DIN > DOUT > DIN > DOUT, all GND in a line and all 5v in a line)







I then used PCB Header pins to join all the LEDs like so



I then put the reflector back in place, and cable tied the light together temporarily so that I could write the code for the Arduino Nano and see what it looked like. Here's a quick video. You'll have to excuse my messy work area, the light saturation in the video and my shaky hand.

[youtube]gYZwofo5tGk[/youtube]

It has a startup animation (it 'scans' left and right 3 times - which can be enabled or disabled in my code settings)...
The functions are (in video order) Braking is solid RED, Reversing is solid WHITE, Left Indicator is ORANGE half strip to left , Right Indicator is ORANGE half strip to right, Hazards are ORANGE, full strip flashing with indicators.

I haven't decided yet if I should make the indicators run the full length of the strip, so when turning LEFT, it would START at the far right and animate to the far LEFT... for RIGHT turn, it would start at the far LEFT, and then animate to the far RIGHT.

Also haven't finalised decision on HAZARDS animation yet.

Any thoughts? (Other than "BUT WHY?" - because the answer is simple - I love electronics & Arduinos.. and because I can )

I will share the Arduino Code and schematics once I've finished

EDIT: Added HAZARDS animation to match indicators

[youtube]B8qHR8QG2AI[/youtube]

 

[mmm-five]

I like it. Don’t have the skills or patience to do it though.

I guess the hazards could be a wipe from centre to both left & right

 

[IAmOrion]

I guess the hazards could be a wipe from centre to both left & right

Yeah, that's what I was thinking - would go with the other half left/half right animations when indicating then

 

[johndglynn]

Love an LED project! Well done - very cool start point for something that could potentially save a rear-end shunt on a wet winter's night.

 

[buzyg]

Well, I guess people wonder why I climb mountains. :lol:

 

[Sgub]

Very cool stuff, Im sure that is beyond the scope of my skills, but am sure that this would look (in my opinion) very good on any zed

 

[IAmOrion]

Very cool stuff, Im sure that is beyond the scope of my skills, but am sure that this would look (in my opinion) very good on any zed

Thanks I'll be sure to take videos once it's sealed up and fitted in place... I'm hoping it will look good too :lol:

 

[nick_l]

I like this a lot!

 

[Spaniarduk]

I love this! Well done!! :worshipbmw:

 

[IAmOrion]

Thanks everyone

I will update this thread as I progress

Just added some prices to first post for those curious about costs

 

[IAmOrion]

Updated HAZARDS animation

[youtube]B8qHR8QG2AI[/youtube]

 

[parabolica]

Like the reversing option; what happens when you brake during reversing? I'm guessing the brake commands takes precedent over the reversing so the LEDs go red?

The indicators are a little OTT for me but props to you for figuring it all out.

 

[IAmOrion]

Like the reversing option; what happens when you brake during reversing? I'm guessing the brake commands takes precedent over the reversing so the LEDs go red?

The indicators are a little OTT for me but props to you for figuring it all out.

Yes, Braking always takes priority - and at the moment, Reversing takes 2nd priority (So if you were indicating AND reversing, it would currently only show white because you're reversing)

How would you do the indicators? Just simple half strip flashing like a normal indicator? Feedback is good, because I can add a "setting" to my code so that it's easier for others to choose between the animation in the video or a static flash etc 8)

 

[parabolica]

Like the reversing option; what happens when you brake during reversing? I'm guessing the brake commands takes precedent over the reversing so the LEDs go red?

The indicators are a little OTT for me but props to you for figuring it all out.

Yes, Braking always takes priority - and at the moment, Reversing takes 2nd priority (So if you were indicating AND reversing, it would currently only show white because you're reversing)

How would you do the indicators? Just simple half strip flashing like a normal indicator? Feedback is good, because I can add a "setting" to my code so that it's easier for others to choose between the animation in the video or a static flash etc 8)

TBH personally I would forego the indicator function all together; just not my thing as it stands out a bit too much for my tastes (I'm all about the subtle ) but I can see why a lot of people like it; just not for me. But I do like the idea of having that light as a multi-purpose light.

 

[IAmOrion]

TBH personally I would forego the indicator function all together; just not my thing as it stands out a bit too much for my tastes (I'm all about the subtle ) but I can see why a lot of people like it; just not for me. But I do like the idea of having that light as a multi-purpose light.

That's fair - each function requires connection to the appropriate light of course ... so simply don't connect the indicators 8)
Or just comment out the indicator function in the code itself

 

[CrazyBaptie]

I like this a lot - something I would be interested in having a bash at

I was wondering for the indicators when they pan from the inside of the car to the outside would it be possible to make the timing so that when it gets to the outside the original indicator flashes?? Iv that makes any sense

 

[IAmOrion]

I like this a lot - something I would be interested in having a bash at

I was wondering for the indicators when they pan from the inside of the car to the outside would it be possible to make the timing so that when it gets to the outside the original indicator flashes?? Iv that makes any sense

No, because it relies on the indicator signal to activate the function lol... it would have to know if advance that you want to indicate! ... and for stereo typical joke purposes - most BMW drivers don't even know they want to indicate

(I guess you could if you wanted to re-wire the main lights too but that'd be a bit of pain lol)

 

[CrazyBaptie]

I like this a lot - something I would be interested in having a bash at

I was wondering for the indicators when they pan from the inside of the car to the outside would it be possible to make the timing so that when it gets to the outside the original indicator flashes?? Iv that makes any sense

No, because it relies on the indicator signal to activate the function lol... it would have to know if advance that you want to indicate! ... and for stereo typical joke purposes - most BMW drivers don't even know they want to indicate

(I guess you could if you wanted to re-wire the main lights too but that'd be a bit of pain lol)

That goes to show I have very little knowledge of electronics - I was somehow thinking you could delay the 3rd brake light indicator for one cycle of the normal indicator? I think it would just hurt my OCD if they were flashing in different sequences :roll:

 

[IAmOrion]

That goes to show I have very little knowledge of electronics - I was somehow thinking you could delay the 3rd brake light indicator for one cycle of the normal indicator? I think it would just hurt my OCD if they were flashing in different sequences :roll:

Well, you could simply have the 3rd brake light indicate "as normal" eg, it just flashes on and off with the main indicator - it would be guaranteed to be 100% in sync at least. The Animation (the flowing animation) is an option. Can be static on and off OR flowing.

 

[CrazyBaptie]

That goes to show I have very little knowledge of electronics - I was somehow thinking you could delay the 3rd brake light indicator for one cycle of the normal indicator? I think it would just hurt my OCD if they were flashing in different sequences :roll:

Well, you could simply have the 3rd brake light indicate "as normal" eg, it just flashes on and off with the main indicator - it would be guaranteed to be 100% in sync at least. The Animation (the flowing animation) is an option. Can be static on and off OR flowing.

Cheers for explaining! I look forward to see the finished project