PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Leading Light Technology To find out more, scan the QR code or visit: BESPOKE CRASH TEST LIGHTING Optimal lighting is vital to ensure every impact is captured in fine detail – and lux is not the only factor to consider Photographers will often say, “It’s all about the lighting.” Getting the lighting right is the secret to quality photography. The same can be said for filming crash tests at high speed. Along with the latest sled, high-performance cameras and a fantastic modern building to house it all in, a lighting system is also needed to complete the package. At the crash test facility pictured (location undisclosed) the ambition was to deliver a cutting-edge laboratory to enable the very best in capability for running in-house crash testing for a major UK aviation component manufacturer. The task for the lighting system was to deliver the maximum amount of flicker-free light over the sled carriage and enable high-speed filming at 1,000fps. This was not an easy task as the common problem with low-energy LED lighting in these applications is the visible flickering on recorded crash test footage. This is caused by the differences between the frequency of the light transmission and the camera shutter speed. Although there are ways around this, such as programming the camera filming frequency to align with the LED lighting or opting for more conventional lighting such as incandescent lamps, these solutions are not always straightforward. They also come with their own challenges such as complex programming, significantly higher energy requirements and/or the need for additional cooling systems. As former crash test engineers themselves, the team at Leading Light Technology understood these challenges and came up with an entirely new approach using state-of-70 MARCH 2024 www.leadinglighttech.co.uk the-art LED technology. The system they designed delivers incredible lighting levels at over 110,000 lx, without any visible flickering on camera footage, using only 45kW of power. It achieves market-leading high-speed camera viewing quality with an exceptional depth of field. It also uses only a fraction of the energy required by incandescent systems – no programming and no cooling required. The lighting is mounted on a welded, curved, aluminum framework, suspended on a modified crane gantry system. This means that it can be easily moved out of the way between tests and gives free access for the separate, main overhead crane equipment to be used for safe test preparation on the sled. An aluminum frame was chosen to keep the weight to a minimum while maintaining strength – a more Need to know » Solutions from Leading Light » are designed by crash test engineers, for crash engineers Customized fitments greatly enhance the analysis process www.AutomotiveTestingTechnologyInternational.com