Streamline the Workflow: How Automotive Lighting Designers Can Maximize Productivity with LucidShape
LucidShape includes features for addressing issues in the early stages of design. New algorithms help ease the design process and speed up computations, saving designers time. In this overview, see how the new features in LucidShape can help streamline your design analysis and bring your product to market faster.
Interactive exploration of related views
When designing your automotive lighting system and viewing multiple plots in LucidShape, you can interactively explore the corresponding light distribution areas in other plots. When you have special views such as a Driver’s View or a set of UV Data Files, you can identify a point in one set of data and see where it maps to in other related data sets. For example, if there is a trouble spot in a combined UV Data File, you can see where that position is in each of the source UV Data Files. This gives designers insight into which part of a light distribution needs to be changed and how to pinpoint any irregularities.
Figure 1. Clicking on a point in the intensity plot displays the corresponding position in other plots
Slice plot overlay
With the section curve overlay functionality, you can select multiple section curves and display them in one summary graph. This allows easy comparisons and provides an overview of the current state of the development.
Figure 2. A summary graph displays the selected section curves in one plot for easy comparison
Color analysis
You can now add color analysis to existing and new measurements, including many regulation-standard measurements. These measurements are integrated with the measurement data grid, allowing for the validation of regulations for intensity and color in one table. The color analysis supports several color spaces as well as engineering staples such as the Planckian Locus, Helmholtz coordinates, and MacAdam ellipses.
Figure 3. You can validate color coordinates by activating the regulation-specific Chromaticity Boundaries and choosing from the great variety of regulation presets, in this case, FMVSS 108
Performing point, slice, and zone measurements also help in analyzing the color variation of a low beam cutline.
Figure 4. Spectrally simulated low beam light distribution, showing color slice and zone measurements in the cutline region
Multi-layer display
The Navigate 3D/4D Data dialog was enhanced to allow the selection of multiple LID frames. For example, you can use the split result sensors for each surface feature on a MacroFocal reflector while using a light mapping simulation. Selecting multiple layers then displays the sum of the layers in a new window. Also, explore the GeoView to see activated facets and LID layers.
Figure 5. a) Designers can select multiple layers in the Navigate UVW Data Dialog, and displace the sum of the layers in a new window
Figure 6. b) GeoView highlights the facets contributing to the current layer selection
Volume sensor enhancements and light cone feature
The far Candela sensor type has been added to the volume sensor. You can then use the Visualize volume sensor tool to create a Light Cone to communicate the required optical packaging space to the rest of the development team.
Figure 7. Create a light cone with the new Far Candela feature
Other improvements
- The new Merge Ray Files dialog now allows for the convenient merging of multiple ray files.
- Keysight has developed the Microfacet Utility to assist you in creating a Microfacet BSDF actor or optical property for the typical types of sample geometry measured in the rough-first orientation.
Usability improvements for faster, more efficient design
LucidShapeincludes several new features and enhancements that allow faster and more efficient design:
- A “Simple Spread” algorithm that has been optimized for fast geometry computations. Ideal for use in designs with hundreds or thousands of facets in the context of signal lighting applications.
- The ability to define a set of spread settings once and apply to any facets/pillows using the Spread Table.
- A spread adjustment tool, where you can easily tweak spread settings with a few clicks instead of having to enter different sets of numbers repetitively.
Automate your simulations and analyses with ease
Save time with the Automatic Simulation feature, which automatically triggers a re-simulation (and optionally test table evaluation) in response to a design feature modification. For example, you can use this in conjunction with the global shift and spread tools or Spread Adjustment tools. You can make a small change to your configuration and with Automatic Simulation active, whenever you click Apply, the simulation runs.
Figure 8. Changes to Spread Adjustment settings automatically trigger a re-simulation in LucidShape
Figure 9. Use the Automatic Simulation feature to monitor how the light distribution or test points are changing in response to modifying various spread settings
Save time with the SmartStart Library Module
The SmartStart Library Module provides access to a library of materials and media commonly used in the design of automotive lighting systems. The library includes refractive index and absorption data as well as pre-defined volume scatter and BSDF materials. Designers can import measured or simulated surface scatter data into a microfacet material model (reflective or refractive) and apply it to arbitrary surfaces for use in a simulation.
InLucidShape version 2023.09, we added 143 OPRX materials and 34 MATX media. The materials include Tenibac, MoldTech, Exolon, Plaskolite, Covestro, Microrelleus, Luminit and the media are from MOCOM, Trinseo, Rhöm, Sabic.
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To try LucidShape for yourself, contact us for a demo and trial license, and we’ll be happy to assist you.