Development and implementation of a laser headlight system for electro-optic characteristic measurement and comparison

In this study, a laser headlight driving controller (LHDC) using the controller area network (CAN)-bus communication system was developed and implemented for vehicle headlight applications. To observe temperature variations that influence the forward-bias voltage and optical power of laser diodes, the laser diode was placed in an ambient temperature-testing chamber to measure the electro-optic characteristics and calculate the electro-optic conversion efficiencies. The optical power and conversion efficiency values obtained at different temperatures (from negative to positive temperatures) when optical power adjustment was executed using analog and pulse-width modulation technologies were compared. Moreover, a human-machine operating interface was developed using the LabVIEW software. Therefore, the LHDC and laser optical power can be controlled using a computer through the CAN-bus communication system to control the LHDC and monitor it.