blindspot monitor buzzer addition

[notaGolfR]

Thinking more about posts 7 and 8 above, plus the nuisance issue raised from use of buzzers, I now think I will use LED lights instead.


They would be in parallel with the BS lamps (thanks DV52) and positioned in the dash/windscreen crack. DV52's brilliant relay suggestion to make the system "more discriminating" would not be necessary. Granted the lights would be often on sometimes but that might be a good thing as it would alert to check the side mirrors.


"Simples" or have I overlooked something?

[Hillbilly]

Thinking more about posts 7 and 8 above, plus the nuisance issue raised from use of buzzers, I now think I will use LED lights instead.


They would be in parallel with the BS lamps (thanks DV52) and positioned in the dash/windscreen crack. DV52's brilliant relay suggestion to make the system "more discriminating" would not be necessary. Granted the lights would be often on sometimes but that might be a good thing as it would alert to check the side mirrors.


"Simples" or have I overlooked something?

Personally I think you are looking for a solution to a non existent problem as if you do a mirror check before moving you would see the existing lights anyway.
I hate flashing things and movement in my peripheral vision without extra flashing lights to distract me.

As they only come on when vehicles are beside you to stop you changing lanes into them why do you need to know if you arent moving across. If you are going to change lanes you do a mirror and head check anyway , Dont you.

Also on a multilane road they would virtually never be off and eventually the driver would get so used to them would ignore them

Everyone to their own but looks like a lot of work for virtually no gain.

[Flipper Dog]

May work in day light but come the darkness and it will annoy the "F" out of you. Like Hillbilly said above ^^^ do a mirror check.

[doc_777]

Do a head check, not just a mirror check.

[DV52]

Thinking more about posts 7 and 8 above, plus the nuisance issue raised from use of buzzers, I now think I will use LED lights instead.


They would be in parallel with the BS lamps (thanks DV52) and positioned in the dash/windscreen crack. DV52's brilliant relay suggestion to make the system "more discriminating" would not be necessary. Granted the lights would be often on sometimes but that might be a good thing as it would alert to check the side mirrors.


"Simples" or have I overlooked something?

hmm......... Of course it's entirely your decision -but IMO, your "indiscriminate" design (which is ostensibly replicating the BS light onto the dash) will still suffer from the annoyance factor. Placed on the dash/windscreen crack, the visibility of the LEDs will need to be bright to compete with sunny daylight conditions in the cabin. At night, the same illumination will likely be quite glaring!

You could bury the LEDs into a deep housing, or you could use an electronic device like a photo-transistor, or a light dependent resistor to modulate the LED illumination with cabin light level. But doing nothing to combat the human eye's increased sensitivity to light in darken environments is just ignoring the discomfort (and possibly, the safety problems) that the device will cause to the driver.

Personally, I would still use the "discriminating" design because there needs to be just one LED and it will be immediately obvious when not to proceed with a lane change - but that's simply my personal opinion!

Don

[notaGolfR]

Do a head check, not just a mirror check.

Do you mean I should be looking over my shoulder, or I should have brain scan? Some would agree with you about the latter.

[notaGolfR]

Hi DV52. Your feedback is appreciated. As it happens, I sussed out LEDs at Jaycar this afternoon while waiting for feedback from this thread. The Jaycar dude offered if I'd like to see how bright it was, connected up a 12V battery & I believe my retina is still recovering.

[doc_777]

Do you mean I should be looking over my shoulder, or I should have brain scan? Some would agree with you about the latter.

Look over the shoulder

I had a brain scan. It came back negative...

[Ozsko]

Before changing lanes you check at least two mirrors and the external one has a warning light in it, that really is when you need to see it. Admittedly the Golf we have is not as prominent as our Tiguan but it is still there. I never take any substantial notice of the BSM if I am not changing lanes that I am aware of. As for exterior mirrors, most drivers do not set them wide enough, you don't need to see any of your car at all and this shortens the blind spot substantially. I have forgotten how many driving courses I have done but the longest one was 8 weeks full time every day and for a while I taught advanced road craft as well and drove heavy commercial for a lot of my working life.

[Hillbilly]

Before changing lanes you check at least two mirrors and the external one has a warning light in it, that really is when you need to see it. Admittedly the Golf we have is not as prominent as our Tiguan but it is still there. I never take any substantial notice of the BSM if I am not changing lanes that I am aware of. As for exterior mirrors, most drivers do not set them wide enough, you don't need to see any of your car at all and this shortens the blind spot substantially. I have forgotten how many driving courses I have done but the longest one was 8 weeks full time every day and for a while I taught advanced road craft as well and drove heavy commercial for a lot of my working life.

I set mine so the inner edge can just see the door handles and the outer edges of the VW ones sort of show a wider field as well