Connecting to Our Cars: Molex Case Study

As part of today’s on-the-go lifestyle, we’ve become used to getting into our car and expecting to seamlessly connect personal devices like music players and cell phones to the vehicle’s systems and power sources. In fact, we'll be seeing more and more smart-phone-to-automobile system integration in the connected cars of the future.  Here we spotlight one company helping make that happen, using Radiant products to improve performance consistency and meet their automotive customers’ needs.

Molex, a leading provider of electronic components and solutions, was able to dramatically improve the design and testing of illuminated USB connectivity modules in automotive dashboards. Using Radiant’s ProMetric® Imaging Colorimeter, Molex design engineers have enhanced their design, measurement and production capabilities for illuminated components, such as halo lighting on USB ports and auxiliary jacks.

The use of LED lighting for connectivity modules has become common for automotive design teams. Part of that design includes maintaining uniform color and brightness as well as ensuring the harmonization of all in-vehicle lighting. Molex offers in-house expertise to its automotive customers to advice on the use of lighting and light measurement. Molex develops its own lighting systems, combining LEDs with custom diffuse polycarbonate material to create lighting solutions that meet their customers’ needs. The lighting improves the appearance of the car while providing wayfinding for connecting personal devices.
 

The ProMetric imager uses sensor-based imaging to perform light measurements at all points at once. This allows Molex engineers to verify their design and ensure uniform lighting distribution across all aspects of the customer’s design applications. With the ProMetric system, Molex can find and eliminate hot spots that cannot be seen by the naked eye, saving time and reducing costs to its customers.

In addition to applying ProMetric Colorimeters in their design process, Molex has also integrated a ProMetric system into their automated quality control station at their production facility in China. Using the imaging colorimeter allows Molex to measure and control production parts in real time, ensuring consistent and high quality lighting for their products. 
 

Learn more about the use of the ProMetric Colorimeter in the Molex automotive production process. And read about other ways Radiant products are helping to improve quality and support innovation in automotive displays and lighting, including head-up displays (HUDs), instrument clusters, embedded LCD and OLED displays, and headlamps, with solutions for challenges like view angle measurement and sparkle testing.

Read the Case Study