UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
EGR 101 INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING THROUGH APPLIED SCIENCE I
Automobile Lighting System
First phase: Basic Lighting System
Goal: Design a circuit that simulates the exterior lighting system of an automobile. Three
light bulbs will be used to represent the headlight, taillight and brake light (1 bulb for
each).
Your system will be powered by 12 Volts, derived from the power supply in your
breadboard.
Miniature lamps that plug into the socket board will be used for the lights.
In Multisim, design the schematic.
Requirements: Use 2 SPST switches and 3 virtual bulbs.
When the main switch is closed, two light bulbs should turn on, one simulating the
headlights and the second one simulating the tail lights (due to limited bulbs, you will use
a single bulb to simulate a function, e.g., one bulb for the tail light instead of two bulbs).
Note, if one bulb should fail, the other must not go out.
The third light bulb will be used to simulate the brake light. The second SPST switch
should mimic the brake pedal. When the switch is closed (pedal is pressed) the brake
light should turn on, independent of the head and tail lights.
Show the Multisim circuit to the instructor or TA to verify your design.
Once the circuit is verified, build the system with your team using a pushbutton
switch (NO) for the break pedal. Demonstrate functionality to the instructor or TA.
Second phase: Adding the High Beam
Modify your multisim circuit design by adding a fourth light bulb and an additional
switch to the circuit in order to simulate the high beam.
Requirements: As before, when the main switch is turned on, the original low beam
headlight and the tail light should turn on. The brake light should turn on when its switch
is on. When the additional switch is turned on in the modified circuit, the high beam
(fourth light) should turn on.
The high beam should be able to turn on only when the low beam is switched on but
should turn on whether the low beam is “burned out” or not.
Show your modified circuit to the instructor or TA to verify your design by
demonstrating in Multisim that you can turn on the high beam and at the same time press
the brake switch to turn on the brake light. Put a Title block on your schematic and fill in
each contributing team member’s name. Print out the schematic and have each team
member sign it.
Build the system with your team and again demonstrate functionality to the
instructor or TA so they can sign your printed schematic.
Deliverables
A printout of your Multisim schematic (after addition of high beam circuit) with all team
members’ names in the title block, signed by all team members and initialed by either
instructor or TA.