The circuit described here can be built and used in your vehicle for an automatic dipping and dimming operation of the vehicle headlamps, in response to the intense lights coming from an opposite vehicle headlamps.
Why an Automatic Headlight Dimmer/Dipper is so Important in Vehicles
You must have come across this irritating situation while driving at night when you find the headlight lamp focus from an opposite vehicle coming straight to your eyes, making things difficult to assess, and giving rise to a situation of a collision or a possible accident.
Incidentally, the driver of the opposite vehicle might be going through the same situation due to the headlight focus from your vehicle.
Such situations are normally tackled by using manual dipper switch mechanism, where the driver is prompted to "dip" the focus of his headlight, thus giving the opposite vehicle a chance to adjust his vehicle and also an indication that he too needs to "dip" his vehicle lamps.
However, doing the above operation manually, every now and then can become horribly laborious and troublesome, therefore if some kind of automatic system is Incorporated, can help to save this headache of the driver, especially while he is driving in stressful conditions and on dangerous highways.
Circuit Operation
The following diagram describes a simple yet effective auto head lamp dipper or dimmer circuit. The transistor is used as a comparator, which compares the preset resistance level and the LDR resistance level with reference to ground.
Circuit Diagram
How the LDR Operates
Light falling over the LDR from the headlight of the vehicle coming from the front instantly lowers its resistance and allows more current to flow to the base of the transistor.
The transistor conducts and activates the relay, which in turn flips the contacts such that the host vehicle's headlamps gets connected with the dipper filament, changing its intensity.
The whole circuit may be enclosed in a small box and installed somewhere near the driver's dashboard area, however the LDR needs to be wired and placed out of the enclosure, in some corner of the wind shield, so that it is able to "see' the light from the opposite vehicles just as the driver would see them.
Parts List
R1 = 1K,
P1 = 10 K,
LDR = With resistance @ around 10 to 50 K when illuminated in daylight (under shade).
T1 = BC547,
D1 = 1N4007
Relay = coil 400 Ohms, DPDT, 12 volts
Making a vehicle dimmer/dipper without Relay
The above automatic dipper circuit can be modified for operating with mosfets:
Dimmer Dipper with Cellphone Charger
The following brief explanation was provided by Miss Surya for getting a better view of the proposed circuit design of an automobile dimmer/dipper head light switch circuit with an optional cell phone charger circuit for facilitating the charging of a cell phone also on board.
Circuit Operation
Here the IC 555 has been used not as a charging indicator rather as a comparator for controlling the dipping action of the head lamps.
The use if IC 555 as a charging indicator would have made the circuit unnecessarily complicated, therefore a novel and simpler way is selected for the charging ON indication.
The LED connected across the 5 Ohm watt current limiting resistor effectively indicates the charging status of the cell phone and switches OFF the moment the charging process stops.
The IC 555 works like a comprartor here, when light falls on the LDR, voltage at PIN#2 rises above the set internal threshold which prompts the IC to change its output PIN#3 voltage from 0 to 12, triggering the connected relay.
The relay contacts immediately transfer the positive supply from the "high" filament to the "low" filament of the head lamps, resulting in an instant dipping of the lamp intensity.
The LDR must be positioned in such a way that it only receives light rays coming from front of the vehicle, which will be mostly the lights from another vehicle's head lamps.
About the Author
I am an electronic engineer (dipIETE ), hobbyist, inventor, schematic/PCB designer, manufacturer. I am also the founder of the website: https://www.homemade-circuits.com/, where I love sharing my innovative circuit ideas and tutorials. If you have any circuit related query, you may interact through comments, I'll be most happy to help!
Howdy, Friend! Interested to Learn Circuit Designing? Let's Start Discussing below!
Hello sir, we made college project of “automatic headlight dim and bright controlled using ldr” from ur first ckt Diagram.. For 4 wheeler… Are u suru it really works? Pls sir reply its too imp for us..
Hello Project Group, as you can see the design is very basic and therefore it will work exactly as described without any problems.
To ensure that the relay does not stutter at thresholds you can add a 1000uF/25V capacitor in parallel to the relay coil or the diode D1.
Test the circuit on your work bench using flashlight first, before actually installing it in a vehicle.
To make the circuit more sensitive you can upgrade the transistor into a Darlington transistor by adding another BC547 to it.
Thank u so much for ur reply… And I hope it really work for me
You are welcome!
I would like to have a detailed circuit design using relay…
rezdude07@gmail.com
May be two vehicles have headlight with different intensity .like 2 car uses two types of light one is led and other is halogen in this situation is it possible
the circuit will respond to all forms of light, it doesn’t matter whether it is from LED or halogen….
Pls help to do dis idea for our project
what is your question?
We r try to do this idea as our project so pls help and support
Sir could you please explain the working of mosfets in the circuit…
and what is the use of 100 K resistor between 5 and 7 terminal of ic555
Give the complete details about this circuit
Email: iamamalvijayan9597@gmail.com
Amal, the mosfets are configured to act like SPDT switches, when the right side mosfet pair is ON, the left side pair is off and vice versa.
the 100K is to create some hysteresis effect between the ON OFF switching
place the LDR inside a short pipe, such that only light beams coming from the front is able to reach the LDR, and no other light from around or top.
LDR and photosensor will behave in the same manner, the correct way is to put the sensor inside a pipe like enclosure
Can i install this automatic dipper in a scooter?
yes you can
Arduino version is possible, I have already built it…
Mohammad, please send me the details in my email: admin @ homemade-circuits.com
Muhammad can u plz forward it to me!! My email is moluguvirat@gmail.com Thank u
Hello sir, can you please post a circuit of AUTOMATIC HIGH BEAM TO LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT USING ARDUINO. with components required!! plz help me.
Hello Surya, if possible I'll try to produce it in my website
Sir try to produce as soon as possible. Thank you sir.
Sir I'm in a need of ur ckt diagram with components to complete my project. My last date of submission is Oct 21st. So please reply me with the complete details of it, as soon as possible sir. Plz sir. Thank you
Surya, all the details are given in the article, please click the diagram to enlarge.
you can write the details on paper and show it to the part dealer he will do the needful
….sorry the arduino version will not be possible…
which bulb is use for this..
What type battery and bulb should be used while submitting as an mini project sir pls kindly requesting u to answer me its urgent
For a realistic look you may want to procure an actual car headlight lamp with double filament, however if you find it difficult then you may simulate the same by tying two small DC bulbs together and wire them up as shown in the first diagram.
The Dim bulb could be a 24V bulb and the bright bulb could be a 12V bulb…
power could be from a 12V /1amp ac dc adapter
Hi . Im trying to build automatic headlight beam by using arduino mega 2560 to program the circuit diagram, i want to know if anyone can help me for a clear circuit diagram (12v input)or the connection i mean how to connect arduino to the circuit diagram
if possible we'll try to get it and post it for you
austin,
In the second 555 circuit do the following changes:
remove all the transistors and the pin3 100k resistor.
now connect white LEDs across positive and pin3, and pin3 to ground
use 10k series resistors for the ground LED and 1k for the positive LED
that's it, now the LEDs will respond like dipper lights
sir i just want to make the model of an autommatic dimming system in a dummy car. how could this be possible?
we have connected potentiometer in the 1st circuit,so how much of resistance to be applied
R1 can be replaced with a 1M pot.
what is the use of potentiometer in auto dipper circuit
hi sir ,
can you send me the circuit diagram for automatic head lamp control using micro controller please
Sir will u tell us how to make connections