Rgb led signal lights

Abstract

A vehicle lighting fixture and system where the fixture includes light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lens. A controller monitors vehicle conditions and sends lighting commands to activate one or more LEDs based on the vehicle conditions. The LEDs can be red-green-blue (RGB) LEDs capable of emitting various different colors. The lighting commands can include illumination color, intensity level and on/off. The LEDs can be arranged in groups, where each group is separated from the other groups. The lighting commands can include a blink/steady designation, where blink causes the group to blink in the illumination color, and steady causes the group to steadily light in the illumination color. A blink frequency can control the blink rate in the illumination color. The lighting commands can include an intensity level; where when a group is activated it is illuminated in the illumination color at the intensity level.

1 . A vehicle lighting system comprising:
 a light fixture that includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lens enclosing the plurality of LEDs, such that when any of the plurality of LEDs is activated the activated LED is visible through the lens of the light fixture;   a controller configured to control the plurality of LEDs;   wherein the light fixture comprises a first fixture portion and a second fixture portion, where the first fixture portion includes a first plurality of LEDs of the plurality of LEDs and the second fixture portion includes a second plurality of LEDs of the plurality of LEDs, and the first plurality of LEDs is separate from the second plurality of LEDs;   wherein the controller monitors vehicle conditions and sends lighting commands to activate one or more LEDs of the plurality of LEDs based on the vehicle conditions;   wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller include a sequence of lighting commands configured to sequentially, intermittently activate less than all of the first plurality of LEDs to create a first animation, and to sequentially, intermittently activate less than all of the second plurality of LEDs to create a second animation.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of LEDs is a red-green-blue (RGB) LED capable of emitting a plurality of different colors; and
 wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller to activate the one or more LEDs include an illumination color from the plurality of different colors for the activated LEDs.   
     
     
         3 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 2 , wherein the lens of the light fixture is clear. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is coupled to the light fixture over a network bus; and
 wherein the lighting commands are sent by the controller to the light fixture over the network bus, and the lighting commands include the illumination color, an intensity level and an on/off command for each of the plurality of LEDs of the light fixture.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is coupled to the light fixture wirelessly; and
 wherein the lighting commands are sent wirelessly by the controller to the light fixture, and the lighting commands include the illumination color, an intensity level and an on/off command for each of the plurality of LEDs of the light fixture.   
     
     
         6 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is coupled to the light fixture over a single power line; and
 wherein the lighting commands are sent by the controller to the light fixture over the single power line, and the lighting commands include the illumination color, an intensity level and an on/off command for each of the plurality of LEDs of the light fixture.   
     
     
         7 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 3 , wherein the plurality of LEDs are arranged in a plurality of contiguous groups, where each of the contiguous groups is separated from the other contiguous groups; and
 wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller to activate the one or more LEDs include the illumination color for each of the plurality of contiguous groups.   
     
     
         8 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 7 , wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller to activate the one or more LEDs include a blink/steady designation for each of the plurality of contiguous groups;
 wherein when the blink/steady designation for a particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups is a blink command then the particular group blinks in the illumination color for the particular group and, when the blink/steady designation for the particular group is a steady command then the particular group steadily lights in the illumination color for the particular group.   
     
     
         9 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 8 , wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller to activate the one or more LEDs include an intensity level for each of the plurality of contiguous groups; wherein when a particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups is activated then the particular group is illuminated in the illumination color for the particular group at the intensity level. 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 2 , wherein each of the sequence of lighting commands configured to illuminate any commanded LED of the first and second plurality of LEDs include a blink/steady designation;
 wherein when the blink/steady designation is a blink command then the commanded LED blinks in the illumination color and, when the blink/steady designation is a steady command then the commanded LED steadily lights in the illumination color.   
     
     
         12 . A vehicle lighting system comprising:
 a plurality of light fixtures, where each of the plurality of light fixtures includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lens enclosing the plurality of LEDs, such that when any of the plurality of LEDs of a particular light fixture of the plurality of light fixtures is activated then the activated LED is visible through the lens of the particular light fixture;   a controller configured to control the plurality of LEDs of the plurality of light fixtures;   wherein the controller monitors vehicle conditions and sends lighting commands to activate one or more LEDs of the plurality of light fixtures based on the vehicle conditions;   wherein the lighting commands sent by the controller include a sequence of lighting commands configured to sequentially, intermittently activate less than all of the plurality of light fixtures in a desired order to create a first animation.   
     
     
         13 . The vehicle lighting system of  claim 12 , wherein each of the sequence of lighting commands configured to illuminate any commanded fixture of the plurality of light fixtures activates less than all of the plurality of LEDs of the commanded fixture. 
     
     
         14 . A light fixture for a vehicle, the light fixture comprising:
 a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), where each of the plurality of LEDs is a red-green-blue RGB LED capable of emitting a plurality of different colors;   a lens encloses the plurality of LEDs; and   an interface to receive lighting commands;   wherein when any of the plurality of LEDs is activated the activated LED is visible through the lens of the light fixture;   wherein the plurality of LEDs are arranged in a plurality of contiguous groups, where each of the plurality of contiguous groups includes a plurality of group LEDs of the plurality of LEDs, and each of the plurality of contiguous groups is separated from the other contiguous groups;   wherein the lighting commands include an active/inactive command for each of the plurality of contiguous groups;   wherein for each particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups, when the associated active/inactive command is active then a selected one or more of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is illuminated.   
     
     
         15 . The light fixture of  claim 14 , wherein the lens is clear. 
     
     
         16 . The light fixture of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the lighting commands include an illumination color for each of the plurality of contiguous groups;   wherein for each particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups, when the associated active/inactive command is active then the one or more illuminated LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is configured to illuminate in the associated illumination color.   
     
     
         17 . The light fixture of  claim 16 , wherein the lighting commands include a blink/steady designation for each of the plurality of contiguous groups;
 wherein for each particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups, when the associated blink/steady designation is a blink command then the one or more illuminated LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is configured to blink in the associated illumination color and, when the associated blink/steady designation is a steady command then the one or more illuminated LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is configured to steadily illuminate in the associated illumination color.   
     
     
         18 . The light fixture of  claim 17 , wherein the blink/steady designation includes a blink frequency and when the blink/steady designation for a particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups is the blink command then the one or more illuminated LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is configured to blink in the associated illumination color at the blink frequency. 
     
     
         19 . The light fixture of  claim 17 , wherein the lighting commands include an intensity level for each of the plurality of contiguous groups; wherein when a particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups is activated then the one or more illuminated LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group is configured to illuminate in the illumination color for the particular group at the intensity level. 
     
     
         20 . The light fixture of  claim 14 , wherein for each particular group of the plurality of contiguous groups, when the associated active/inactive command is active then the lighting commands include a sequence of lighting commands configured to sequentially, intermittently illuminate one or more group LEDs of the plurality of group LEDs of the particular group in a desired order to create a group animation.