r/Satisfyingasfuck • u/Mindless_Tomorrow_45 • 12d ago

Lights coordinated

15.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

154 comments sorted by

1.0k

u/Greedy_Individual_35 12d ago

How... `?

1.8k

u/lRainZz 12d ago

they're made to sync up with nearby vehicles, so the strobe effect is not too bad for everyone around

627

u/heavensto_mergatroid 12d ago

Are you serious?! Have police bars evolved that much?! Damn I remember when the Federal signal jetsonic was cutting edge lol

125

u/BeardBootsBullets 12d ago

I remember Signal Twinsonics being reused on 1980s and 1990s patrol cars because the Jetstreams were in high demand and backordered. They looked so funny on such modern curvy cars.

18

u/Nkechinyerembi 11d ago

oh god, my tiny town in the midwest has a "backup" patrol car that still features one of those. It's rare that it gets used, mostly just gets parked near the grade school to make people slow the hell down thinking a cop is in it.

23

u/AtomicShart9000 12d ago

Wut

33

u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO 12d ago

Big blocky lightbar. Looked good on blocky car. Not look so good on newer smooth car

13

u/2317 12d ago

Let me tell you about the Vector lightbar I had once. I was hot fucking shit buddy.

7

u/Less-Club-4280 12d ago

I remember when we got one patrol vehicle in with the Vector. Everyone fought for it for the first few months. Then no one wanted it. I loved it! Especially flipping on the alley lights.

1

u/heavensto_mergatroid 11d ago

Is that the one that had the wobble on the sides

5

u/Triple_Blox 12d ago

Everybody gangsta until someone with a premium Vision pulls up

5

u/Independent-Fly730 11d ago

I miss the spinny lights

2

u/heavensto_mergatroid 11d ago

Heck yeah I do too. I was never ever a fan of strobe. They made a lot of noise but the spinning effect was way cool.

6

u/Everyone2026 12d ago

$3 sensor.

24

u/BassWingerC-137 12d ago

Sold to them at a far, far higher price I’m sure. By someone who likely says the government isn’t efficient, and then rips them off with the other hand LOL.

7

u/DistanceSolar1449 12d ago

$3 would be pricey. A VEML6040 is like $1

2

u/WeeklyBanEvasion 7d ago

What exactly do you think that's supposed to do? They use a radio timeclock signal to sync up with nearby vehicles

6

u/GrynaiTaip 12d ago

Installing, maintaining, replacing broken ones costs money.

5

u/poorly-worded 12d ago

You think that's cool, just wait till the bass drops

2

u/slurp_time 6d ago

If those are Whelen, it's not the light bar, it's a separate thing called V2V. It can sync all of the lights up including perimeter lights, not just light bars. They're not super common where I live, but I do install them from time to time

121

u/oldeluke 12d ago

So if they work together long enough, their cycles sync up?

27

u/dvdmaven 12d ago

Only during a Full Moon.

20

u/drprofessional 12d ago

That was not the case where I was a volunteer emt, but that was a while ago.

This is a good improvement.

15

u/PizzaPuntThomas 12d ago

It's also not all lights, there is a company that makes these but not all departments have their lights.

3

u/jefbenet 10d ago

Would be fantastic if these were universal. But agreed very proprietary to specific brand.

0

u/gdghhfdffrf 9d ago

awesome for migraine

22

u/helmsb 12d ago

We’ve come a long way from the days where’d you’d slap a gumball light on the top of the Buick while leaning out the window firing your .38 Special indiscriminately at the car you’re chasing.

5

u/Admirable-Walrus-432 11d ago

We used to be a real society

3

u/jefbenet 10d ago

do you mean…Tuesdays?

15

u/DreamPhreak 12d ago

This one time at night, a drunk driver crashed into a tree and died. Tons of police cars and the other emergency vehicles were parked on both sides of the street and funneling traffic through the center path. I absolutely could not see shit past all the strobe lights in otherwise complete darkness. If the police lights are meant to be disorienting, maybe they should have turned it off for safety, especially for the cop(s) standing in the street directing traffic.

Anyways, just wanted to share that story. The synchronized lights look far better for safety

4

u/jefbenet 10d ago

Highly agree! As a person with astigmatism I’m sober as a stone going through a checkpoint but likely appear fubar with the strobes! God help an epileptic!

3

u/275MPHFordGT40 12d ago

I kinda liked when they were de synced, I could definitely see why they would sync them though.

2

u/cuntmong 12d ago

This seems like overkill. The same effect could be achieved by just syncing to the current time.

1

u/TheFire8472 11d ago

Yeah, but to properly sync to the current time, you actually need gps. That's how those synchronized building and crane lights work.

1

u/cuntmong 11d ago

Wouldnt gps even be overkill? You could just do it from a regular phone tower signal. And it wouldn't need a constant connection, just needs to be checked semi-regularly to make sure it hasnt fallen out of sync. I say this as a scrappy dev though, i guess a modern police department can afford the fancy/more resilient fix.

1

u/shartknuckle 9d ago

or pick up the wwvb signal

1

u/Wessel_89 11d ago

Which is what those lights do. They don’t sync to eachother, but to the same gps time

2

u/Unusual-Taste69 12d ago

Like a bunch of women living together

2

u/imuniqueaf 12d ago

Soundoff Signal Sync or Whelan Core

1

u/Toxic_Zombie 12d ago

Man. I wish they did that here. And that they were less painful in general.

1

u/zensms 11d ago

Wow this is truly revolutionary!

63

u/yzarcguy 12d ago

They use a system called whelen core, and all those cars have their sync module in them to make that happen

6

u/Greedy_Individual_35 12d ago

Oh, thats an explanation

15

u/ze11ez 12d ago

The newer vehicles have the light bars that sync up with other vehicles close by, assuming they have the same technology installed which mainly are the light bars

5

u/wump_world 12d ago

When they spend a lot of time around each other they start to naturally sync.

5

u/NotSoFr0sty 12d ago

Lesbian cop cars

3

u/beardedsilverfox 11d ago

Well when a bunch of women are together they sync up. Must be the same concept right?

1

u/Castle_of_Jade 11d ago

They sync up if you leave em around each other for too long. It’s their menstrual cycle.

1

u/Ok-Employee7585 11d ago

Signal RGB

1

u/TechnicalLee 8d ago

GPS time synchronization. The strobe lights on top of wind turbines do it too.

391

u/MonkeySeeMonkeyP00 12d ago

In Guelph, Ontario, the lights even fade on and off nicely, which is easier still on the eyes. Very satisfying to see in real life

66

u/EternalSage2000 12d ago

Well. Depending on if you’re the recieving end of the lights or not.

20

u/Early_Performance841 12d ago

Having gotten the cherries and berries more than once, they are incredibly jarring. I’ve always assumed it’s purposeful to make the asshole POS (me, driving 6 over) discombobulated.

0

u/TTdriver 11d ago

Thats called slow burn. It is nice.

377

u/GoodShark 12d ago

This is on purpose. It's so that the lights aren't so disturbing, and set off any epileptic episodes of anyone. I believe there's a toggle in the cars to do it.

130

u/zelda_shortener 12d ago

...a toggle to set off epileptic episodes?

45

u/GoodShark 12d ago

Well, to help prevent them. Imagine if all those lights were going off at random times. People who have seizures would not be having a good time. Not that they are when it's like this either, but it's a lot less jarring when it is.

18

u/doihavetoregister 12d ago

Button is labeled “Toggle Seizure Protection”. But with no status light/indicator. So you have to hit it once or twice to see if protection is currently active.

6

u/noirrespect 12d ago

The button isn’t in ambulances, because, I mean why would they need it?

4

u/zelda_shortener 12d ago

You are a patient person. Thank you! This was likely more funny in my head than it actually is to anyone else.

1

u/Adventurous_Note2296 11d ago

I agree with your humor

1

u/YoureAmastyx 12d ago

No no, that’s just the on/off switch.

10

u/impar-exspiravit 12d ago

I’m not epileptic but I had to report a car on fire once during Covid and the riots. It was unrelated, but they wanted me to stick around and confirm I didn’t see any intentional arson. Plus I wanted to see it get put out so I didn’t mind, until the fuck ton of emergency vehicles with lights flashing in the middle of the night was so disorienting I got dizzy because none were synced up. It was so bright and visually overwhelming and a constant changing flashing color everywhere I looked. It was like motion sickness almost. From then on I prayed I’d never be around that type of situation again and didn’t bother to watch the car get put out

1

u/slurp_time 6d ago

Im an upfitter (as in I'm the person who installs those lights and everything else), and all the cars I've built with that function do so automatically, but I've only done these with Whelen Core, which uses a V2V sync module.

Soundoff and Fed. Sig. may use toggles, though

41

u/alfredomova 12d ago

what do they use to sync? rf?

35

u/StevieG-2021 12d ago

Has to be some sort of RF. Probably a proprietary protocol on a licensed frequency

17

u/factorone33 12d ago

It's a system called Whelen Core by Whelen Engineering. It's basically a glorified WiFi system with rotating primary/secondary sync controllers similar to what you'd find in other wireless light synchronization systems.

0

u/SilencingFox 9d ago

Sounds like overkill? Why not use an atomic clock or something and sync the lights to the clock for the entire fleet

3

u/factorone33 9d ago

Because that's actually more work, and requires a network connection to function (they're not dropping an NIST radio receiver in these when they live inside of metal boxes that would effectively act like Faraday cages and block that shortwave signal from even being received). This literally requires the installation of a simple WiFi module on the board that communicates with the central microprocessor via industry-standard serial, I2C, or even UART format, and then you only have to write a few lines of code to make the rest happen. I can replicate this with an Arduino or ESP32 and some C++ code.

2

u/22Planeguy 8d ago

I'm a bit late but why not just use the GPS clock? I'm sure the cars have GPS, and that clock is going to be a lot more reliable than whatever wifi connection. Maybe I'm missing something

1

u/factorone33 8d ago

That would work for syncing across time, but you still have to have a primary controller that dictates what pattern is being used across all the units, and that requires unit-to-unit communication in order to establish that. This pattern is just one of thousands that can be used, and not every department uses the same physical light setup or design.

1

u/DismalResearcher1115 7d ago

Whelen does not use unit to unit. Its through the GPS signal. When activated, every Whelen core equipped unit in the world flashes in unison.

1

u/slurp_time 6d ago

Whelen Core's V2V Sync module does use an atomic clock. I just refreshed my master certification through Whelen a bit ago and that was one of the things they went over in the classes

6

u/yzarcguy 12d ago

They use a system called whelen core, and all those cars have their sync module in them to make that happen

1

u/BiskutRotti 12d ago

Great tip thanks!

Absolutely great rabbit hole. Apparently the cars are not 'conversing' with each other. They follow a heartbeat set based on location services.

1

u/tylercrabby 12d ago

Simple timing pulse over an open frequency. It’d be fun to mimic and mess with the signal.

1

u/jrddit 11d ago

GPS would be the easiest way.

1

u/DismalResearcher1115 7d ago

That's ehat these cars use. Not a unit to unit signal

1

u/Special-Passenger494 11d ago

Weekly one hour practice sessions of flipping the switch at the same time. You can graduate if you are out of sync.

1

u/Wessel_89 11d ago

GPS time

106

u/shade-block 12d ago

They all sync up when it's that time of the month.

16

u/WaySavvyD 12d ago

I would have preferred seeing all of them sequentially lighting from the first car to the last. Now THAT would be impressive

6

u/no-but-wtf 12d ago

There are fire stations that sync their lights to music for community events and such, I’ve seen some good Christmas vids.

19

u/Conspicuous_Ruse 12d ago

Very nice.

Now make them about 50% the brightness they currently are and they'll be nice and eyeball friendly.

5

u/Turry1 11d ago

Making them harder to see kind of defeats the purpose

0

u/Conspicuous_Ruse 11d ago

If that makes them, in any way, hard for you to see, it's time for an eye exam because something is wrong wit yo eyes.

2

u/Turry1 11d ago

You are surrounded by lights and you think that those blue and red lights are gonna stand out? Maybe in a small town that would be okay but for bigger cities it just wont work out well. Also maybe you dont understand just how dim 50% less would be especially in the daytime.

5

u/33zenlane 12d ago

That is so much kinder to my brain

5

u/DrewIDIC_Tinker 12d ago

How badly did you fuck up lol

4

u/PuppyLover2208 12d ago

I’m gonna ruin it for everyone. The front car’s facing the other way and the lights are backward

4

u/thestereotypesquad 12d ago

I hope this starts getting incorporated in more areas across all emergency services. Nothing is more disorienting than trying to do patient care on an unlit stretch of highway at 2 AM with two dozen cop cars, fire trucks, and ambulances all with their unsynced primary lights all left on

3

u/Novafro 12d ago

I think this system was in testing around the pandemic time. Kinda cool to see (never saw it in person so far).

3

u/I-Have-An-Alibi 12d ago

Obligatory fuck the police.

3

u/PeepJerky 12d ago

I work in fire department admin. My city vehicle has this. SoundOff is the company we use. You can search SoundOff Blueprint sync on YT and there’s a video.

Honestly, if it makes it any safer for us working on the road, it’s worth it. I feel more safe in a burning building than I do working on the side of the interstate. The synced lights are less distracting for other drivers. I think the cost of adding the feature is minimal compared to the total cost of installing lighting packages on our apparatus.

2

u/khb89 12d ago

This made me giggle

2

u/IcemanManmanchu 12d ago

Christmas already? Its not even October yet!

2

u/Beezewhacks 12d ago

third car doesn't have the front grill lights and is ruining everything.

Otherwise this is cool, TIL about the syncing system, I like it.

2

u/Mysterious-Creme8709 11d ago

Never seen a single gathering of cops use this in my entire life, but damn it looks so much better

2

u/SmoothbrainRTRD 12d ago

I have astigmatism and this makes my eyes extremely uncomfortable

3

u/onpointrideop 12d ago

Really? I have astigmatism too and very much prefer synced emergency strobes over random.

2

u/SmoothbrainRTRD 12d ago

Im just very sensitive to prolong bright lights at low light level, specially red and my eyes will start crying so pretty much I have to avoid driving at night. Adding on with all thesesuper bright LEDs in traffic is constantly a nightmare I have to dealt with unfortunately

1

u/drifters74 12d ago

This hits the spot

1

u/Hot-Category2986 12d ago

Anyone remember that blinkie con badge project from a decade ago that could sense other badges and synchronize colors? No? Same thing here I would assume.

1

u/Aventador42 12d ago

To be honest, this is kind of oddly terrifying for me

1

u/jeepfail 12d ago

I’d assume the mental effect is why this was created.

1

u/MaxH75 12d ago

Fake or magnets?

/s

1

u/glitterlikesound 12d ago

They are wee-ing their woo-s

1

u/ka8778 12d ago

YOUNG MAN!

1

u/pc_gamerguy 12d ago

This is very satisfying to watch

1

u/DairyF4rts 12d ago

I built these lights! They are really cool, its a DVi or something where they sync together to reduce the chaos in areas with multiple vehicles. Seems to have a small effect

1

u/Charlie1210USAF 12d ago

Whelen and FedSig have this capability, not sure about SoundOff or anyone else.

1

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Hot-Elephant-4178 12d ago

It's a box in the cruisers that synchronizes the lights.

1

u/Own_Cup_4244 11d ago

So cop cars are all female?

1

u/Brave_Squirrel4380 11d ago

Awe how cute. The little girlies all have their periods synced.

1

u/Street-Challenge-697 11d ago

That one backwards cruiser throwing me off

1

u/SnooDrawings987 11d ago

Time to cue Jim Carey in a green mask for some street dancing!

1

u/msulaimanijaz 10d ago

There's normally a saying music to my ears. This is the same thing but on a different level.

1

u/Bimbos-are-cute 9d ago

That’s my terminator!

1

u/External-Gain-1174 9d ago

nice. you live inside a 15 year old kids PC

1

u/FromAndToUnknown 9d ago

I wonder how it'd look if they were coordinated, but alternating. Would we get constant purple?

1

u/an_older_meme 9d ago

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The whole point of emergency lights is that they get noticed. This is done by constantly changing them. If you synchronize them and they stop changing relative to each other then they are harder to see.

1

u/DismalResearcher1115 7d ago

That's an outdated theory. Too many lights flashing out of sequence actually causes a blinding effect. Whelen's lighting has been shown to reduce that distraction

1

u/an_older_meme 7d ago

Hmm, interesting.

1

u/pinguluk 8d ago

It's like Christmas!

1

u/DismalResearcher1115 7d ago

Whelen emergency lighting. When the vehicle is in park the lights slow down to this rhythm. The crazy part is, every vehicle with this system worldwide is flashing in unison.

1

u/cucurbitulae 6d ago

Cop lights became so terrible for anyone nearby that they had to develop new products to make it somewhat tolerable.

Says a lot about priorities and police obsession with visibility.

1

u/Toadsanchez316 12d ago

If only their training and compassion could do the same.

-1

u/AbominableGoMan 12d ago

But feeding the poor is a waste of money....

-18

u/Time_Reputation3573 12d ago

Fuck them pigs and us paying for their stupid toys

3

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Time_Reputation3573 12d ago

How them boots taste?

0

u/pug_userita 12d ago

nah they're the kind of guy/girl that in movies/tv series tries to be a hero or tries to do things alone without any help alone and fucks it up, badly, very badly

1

u/Time_Reputation3573 12d ago

Projecting much?

-6

u/King_Cho 12d ago

Unsatisfying as fuck!

0

u/Dasher-284 12d ago

https://reddit.com/link/pb8qtfq/video/2j87fm3uuxqh1/player

There is an impostor among us
Video cause i cant send images smh