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.

Lighting unit that can be mounted to a vehicle for illuminating work or emergency areas at night. The lighting unit includes a mechanically controllable driver for selecting a position of a central optical axis of the light emitter and an electronically adjustable refractive element for modulating a beam spread configuration generated by the lighting unit.

Rotorcraft lighting equipment includes a plurality of lighting devices configured to be mounted to an exterior of a rotorcraft, wherein each of the lighting devices comprises a plurality of individually controllable lighting modules which are configured for emitting light into different spatial directions; and a lighting control device configured for individually controlling the operation of the plurality of lighting modules for generating a desired light distribution of the light emitted by the plurality of lighting modules.

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.

A light assembly for attachment to a surface of a vehicle. The light assembly includes a vehicle base configured to be coupled to the surface of the vehicle and a light head coupled to the vehicle base. The light head is configured to rotate relative to the vehicle base about a first axis and about a second axis that is different from the first axis. The light head is configured to rotate about the first and second axes at a first speed in response to a first user input, and to rotate about the first and second axes at a second speed that is different from the first speed in response to a second user input.

An autonomous search light system for being mounted to an aircraft includes a search light for emitting an adjustable light output; an RF receiver with at least two RF antennas for receiving RF signals emitted by an RF transmitter; and a controller for determining a position of the RF transmitter in relation to the search light from the received RF signals and for controlling the search light based on the determined position of the RF transmitter.

A light assembly for attachment to a surface. The light assembly includes a base configured to be coupled to the surface and a light head coupled to the base and including a light source. The light head is movable relative to the base from a predetermined position. The light assembly further includes a motor coupled to the base and the light head to move the light head relative to the base and a remote configured to control movement of the light head with respect to the base. The remote including an actuator operable to return the light head to the predetermined position.

A vehicle control device mounted in a vehicle includes: a first recognizer configured to recognize a person near the vehicle; a first determiner configured to determine whether the person recognized by the first recognizer is a pre-registered user; and a controller configured to control a lighting device to project a projection image to a position for which a stop position of the vehicle is a criterion in a case where the first determiner determines that the person recognized by the first recognizer is the pre-registered user.

A tunable optic includes a hexagonal-shaped housing, a polar liquid, a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, a fourth electrode, a fifth electrode, a sixth electrode, and a grounding electrode. The hexagonal-shaped housing includes first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth side walls and first and second light transmissive end walls, and the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth side walls and the first and second light transmissive end walls define a hexagonal-shaped inner cavity. The polar liquid is disposed within the hexagonal-shaped inner cavity. The polar liquid has a surface, and the surface has a curvature and a two-dimensional tilt angle that is variable in response to voltages supplied to each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth electrodes, whereby lens characteristics and light deflection characteristics of the tunable optic are varied.

Systems, devices, and methods are disclosed in which one or more light sources, a detector, a processor and a controller are configured such that light from the one or more light sources can provide illumination or projections that can reduce accidents while the vehicle is in motion and when parked and may also provide information and illumination to the driver and vehicle occupants when entering or exiting the vehicle. These systems may, for example, provide spot illumination to moving objects or pedestrians on the road surface, with the spot illumination following the moving object. Alternatively or in addition these systems may project images on the ground, for example to communicate information to occupants of the vehicle, to occupants of another vehicle, or to pedestrians.