I had a vision for some slat headlights for awhile and when I heard of an upcoming truck show I decided I needed to try to get in with concept. I went out and bought a CR Lizard 3D Scanner, scanned the headlights of my truck, designed a concept to fit within the bounds, printed it and used addressable RGBW LEDs to bring it all together!
CR Lizard 3D Scanner
I used the CR Lizard to scan the headlight, I found that in order to get a decent scan I needed to cover the headlight in dry shampoo and add painters tape on the flat surfaces to give a geometry for the scanner to detect.
Fusion360
After the scan was complete I brought the STL file into Fusion360 to use it to get the overall dimensions and to get the mounting holes of the headlight.
Sealed Beam Headlights
To get around the DOT standards I decided to use sealed beam headlights for the High and Low beam lights. In hind sight I don't think you're allowed to cover the lights with giant slats so I'm fairly certain these aren't road legal.
Circuit Boards and LEDs
Affiliate Links:
- LM2596 DC-DC Step Down
- LM2596 USB Step Down
- Logic Level Converter 4 Channels
- ESP32 Dev Board
- SK6812 LED Strips
I used a LM2596 for every 50 LEDs to prevent voltage drop. Also for one reason or another some GPIO pins are not good for controlling the LEDs. Here's a link with a detailed description on the ESP32 pins. Below is a list of pins that should work:
- 4
- 13
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 32
- 33
WLED
I chose to use WLED's software with an ESP32 to control the LEDs because it is open source, has a lot of customization, and I didn't want to buy a cheap Chinese controller that would force me to use a crappy app. Although, I understand WLED may be too complex for everyone, if that's the case there are plenty of alternatives on Amazon or AliExpress.
Tutorials I used to set up WLED:
- LED Setup: Using Multiple Data Pins + WLED Configuration. EASY Setup
- How To Install WLED on an ESP32 Board and Connect / Control Addressable LEDs
- How to Easily Control Addressable LEDs with an ESP32 or ESP8266 | WLED Project
PETG
I used PETG to print the headlights but after the Truck was idling for a hour in the sun it actually heated the material enough to deform. If I were to do it again I would try to use ASA.
