Electronic Lamp Monitoring

In describing the electronic lamp monitoring system developed at Packard Electric Div. of General Motors Corp., this paper discusses the requirements of lamp monitoring systems, presents a brief history of such systems at Packard Electric, explains how the system functions, and details the method of assembling the system into General Motors automobiles.

The requirements for a lamp monitoring system are: it should be able to monitor all types of exterior lamps on the automobile, and the number of lamps must not be critical to design; it must be easy to assemble; it should be simple in design so that it can be repaired in the field with minimum training of personnel; it must be reliable and able to withstand the electrical and environmental conditions to which the vehicle is subjected; there should be minimal change from one car line to another and from one model year to another; and most importantly, the unit cost should be reasonable.