A terrain viewing apparatus is provided to enable greater viewability of environmental conditions around a vehicle. A housing of the terrain viewing apparatus may include a lighting apparatus for emitting light and illuminating environmental conditions during nighttime, dusk, or adverse weather conditions. The housing may further include a reflecting apparatus to increase an operator's ability to view environmental conditions outside the vehicle. One or more joints may enable the housing to be adjustable with respect to the vehicle. An internal joint may enable the reflecting apparatus to be adjustable with respect to the housing. The lighting apparatus may receive power from the vehicle. The lighting and reflecting apparatuses may be electrically coupled to the vehicle and may be controllable therefrom.

A lighting device is provided for controlling the photometric distribution of light emitted by two or more LEDs. The lighting device may be integrated with a control system of the vehicle and may be controlled by a remote controller. The lighting device may be capable of being operated in one or more modes of operation based on operating conditions, user input, or both. Operating conditions may include vehicle conditions, environmental conditions, and user conditions. The controller may operate a software application to enable the user to modify, control, or otherwise regulate any mode of operation or other feature of the lighting system.

Provided is a method and device to selectively illuminate off-road objects in low-light environments using directionally-adjustable vehicle headlamps. An object may be identified by a vehicle user and/or autonomous vehicle sensors. When the identified object is within an illumination range capability of a vehicle headlamp, a frontlighting control unit operates to determine vector data for the identified object, taking into account vehicle motion. With the vector data, a headlight pattern of the vehicle headlamp may be adjusted to align with the vector data to illuminate the identified object.

A roof rack lighting assembly for a vehicle includes a base member configured to secure to the vehicle. The roof rack lighting assembly also includes a slider member slidably coupled to the base member and selectively moveable between a first slider position and a second slider position. A light assembly is pivotally coupled to the slider member and selectively moveable between a first light position and a second light position.

There is set forth herein in one embodiment a system for detecting physical objects within a perimeter. The system can include one or more sensors configured to be supported by a motor vehicle. The system can include a processing system and the processing system can be configured to detect a physical object moving within the perimeter based on an output of the one or more sensors. The processing system can be configured to transmit a notification responsive to detecting a person approaching the motor vehicle.

An apparatus for controlling a vehicle light with adjustable light output is provided, whereby the apparatus includes a processor configured to receive on-board diagnostics (OBD) data and to determine a light output mode for the vehicle light in accordance with the OBD data, whereby the OBD data indicates a vehicle condition. The apparatus includes a transceiver coupled to the processor that is configured to signal the light output mode to the vehicle light. A method of controlling a vehicle light is provided that includes receiving OBD data from an OBD system in a vehicle, whereby the OBD data determines a vehicle condition, determining a light output mode of the vehicle light in accordance with the OBD data, and sending to the vehicle light appropriate commands for adjusting the light output in accordance with the determined light output mode.

An illumination apparatus includes a housing with a faceplate, at least one light source, at least one optical assembly coupled to the faceplate, a frame supporting the at least one light source, and a yoke assembly having a camshaft and a yoke with a set of lobes, the yoke assembly coupled to the faceplate and slideably received by the frame, such that the at least one optical assembly is moveable in a linear direction towards and away from the at least one light source by rotation of the camshaft.

An illumination apparatus that illuminates an illumination zone having a first direction and a second direction crossing the first direction is provided with a light source to emit a coherent light beam, and a diffraction optical device to diffract the coherent light beam incident from the light source. The diffraction optical device diffracts the incident coherent light beam so that a width of the illumination zone in the second direction gradually becomes wider along the first direction of the illumination zone from a nearer side to the diffraction optical device.

Systems and methods of providing a DOT Lighting monitor that automatically detects when any of the exterior lights on a commercial motor vehicle fails/burns out and that alerts the driver to which one(s) is affected is provided. Each required light is monitored, and a state of an indicator corresponding to that required light is changed to notify an operator of a failure thereof.

Expandable light towers suitable for mounting to a mobile unit, and methods for their use. Such an expandable light tower includes a telescoping assembly comprising first and second telescoping units. The second telescoping unit is telescopically received in the first telescoping unit to configure the expandable light tower to have retracted and extended configurations. The light tower further includes a light-mounting assembly mounted to the second telescoping unit and a mounting assembly coupled to the first telescoping unit and adapted to mount the telescoping assembly to a hitch of a mobile unit. The mounting assembly enables the telescoping assembly to pivot about a transverse axis.