Patent ID: 9635739
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: B60Q,B64D,F21S,G01S,H05B,Y02B

Claim:
1. A dynamic exterior aircraft light unit, capable of emitting light in accordance with at least two light emission distributions for illuminating different sectors of an aircraft environment, the dynamic aircraft light unit comprising: a plurality of LEDs, with at least two subsets of the plurality of LEDs being separately controllable, with each of the at least two subsets being associated with a respective one of the at least two light emission distributions, an optical system for transforming light output from the plurality of LEDs into the at least two light emission distributions, a control unit for controlling the plurality of LEDs, and a photo detector arranged to detect light, emitted by the dynamic exterior aircraft light unit as part of the at least two light emission distributions and reflected by the aircraft environment, and configured to output a light detection signal, wherein the control unit is coupled to the photo detector for receiving the light detection signal, is configured to determine a distance to the aircraft environment reflecting the light, and is configured to switch between the at least two subsets of the plurality of LEDs as a response to the distance determined.