Dynamic indicators are pretty cool if you ask me. The facelift 8V also has Dynamic rears along with golf MK7.5. I know there are also more models with these fancy animating indicators but i saw a video on Facebook where someone actually fitted one in to their 3 door A3 8P.
Although i cant find a link to the video anymore (Hopefully LEE69 can find the video from the A3 8P Owners Facebook group), they did draw some attention.
There are cheap DIY LED sequential indicator/DRL strips online for less than £20. Having seen a few videos in action, the sequential animation doesn't look smooth and personally i don't think they are bright enough.
Here's my plan.
NeoPixels are programmable leds which can be controlled via a arduino(or something similar). Heres a link to them https://www.adafruit.com/product/1506. In my opinion i think these are the best programmable LEDS in terms of light output.
Theoretically these can be put in place of the indicators on the tail lights. However as the indicators don't span the whole width of the tail lights on facelift 3 door and 5 door tail lights, i don't think it would look as nice as oem dynamic indicators. Ignore my poor paint skills but i was thinking of having half the leds in the reverse light section and the other half in the indicator section for each tail light.
Now, as the leds are RGB, they can shine white light as well as any other colour you want. In this case i want Amber/Orange for indicators and white for reverse.
If the leds act as both the indicators and reverse lights, heres how i can code the arduino to control the leds.
How the LED's would work is by having the existing signals from the tail lights go into the arduino to then decide how it should control the colour of the light. I could either have two arduinos, one for each side. this would save having to route cables from each tail light. Or i could have one controlling both sides(more cables involved)
Currently there are two flaws with this idea.
1) the arduino and the LED's need constant 5v to work and not only when the lights are signalling. If these are hooked to ignition, when having the car off and having hazards on, the lights wont function hence constant power is needed.
2) I wont be able to see if the leds would be bright enough to actually see whilst reversing until i get facelift rear tail lights and fit them inside the tail lights.
If you checked the price for the NeoPixels on the link earlier, you'll realise the price is pretty steep for a LED strip. So instead ive got a set from Aliexpress for a tenna but as its coming from china, it can take up to 2 months. Maybe i should have posted this when i actually have a working model but i felt like sharing this so you guys can also have a dig at this.
Although i cant find a link to the video anymore (Hopefully LEE69 can find the video from the A3 8P Owners Facebook group), they did draw some attention.
There are cheap DIY LED sequential indicator/DRL strips online for less than £20. Having seen a few videos in action, the sequential animation doesn't look smooth and personally i don't think they are bright enough.
Here's my plan.
NeoPixels are programmable leds which can be controlled via a arduino(or something similar). Heres a link to them https://www.adafruit.com/product/1506. In my opinion i think these are the best programmable LEDS in terms of light output.
Theoretically these can be put in place of the indicators on the tail lights. However as the indicators don't span the whole width of the tail lights on facelift 3 door and 5 door tail lights, i don't think it would look as nice as oem dynamic indicators. Ignore my poor paint skills but i was thinking of having half the leds in the reverse light section and the other half in the indicator section for each tail light.
Now, as the leds are RGB, they can shine white light as well as any other colour you want. In this case i want Amber/Orange for indicators and white for reverse.
If the leds act as both the indicators and reverse lights, heres how i can code the arduino to control the leds.
How the LED's would work is by having the existing signals from the tail lights go into the arduino to then decide how it should control the colour of the light. I could either have two arduinos, one for each side. this would save having to route cables from each tail light. Or i could have one controlling both sides(more cables involved)
Currently there are two flaws with this idea.
1) the arduino and the LED's need constant 5v to work and not only when the lights are signalling. If these are hooked to ignition, when having the car off and having hazards on, the lights wont function hence constant power is needed.
2) I wont be able to see if the leds would be bright enough to actually see whilst reversing until i get facelift rear tail lights and fit them inside the tail lights.
If you checked the price for the NeoPixels on the link earlier, you'll realise the price is pretty steep for a LED strip. So instead ive got a set from Aliexpress for a tenna but as its coming from china, it can take up to 2 months. Maybe i should have posted this when i actually have a working model but i felt like sharing this so you guys can also have a dig at this.