When we started work on the Mercedes-Benz Arocs, we knew that the lights on top of the cabin would look really cool if they acted like actual beacon lights. Problem was, how do we go about making a rotating light in such a small space.
As you all know, our philosophy is to avoid as much manipulation of LEGO bricks as possible. In the market, we've seen some rotating lights, but we were honestly unimpressed because the lighting components were permanently fixed to the LEGO brick.
Some brands even had to carve out (aka destroy) the LEGO brick in order to fit their rotating light. That's a big no-no in our eyes!
We knew we didn't want to go down the permanent fixture route, because that would mean we'd have to create lots of different types of lights in different colours and it also meant that our customers were locked into a single look/design of brick per component. And that's not our cup of tea! LEGO is all about customisation and new ideas, and we want to follow that same ethos.
So we put our thinking caps on and worked with our product design team on how we could achieve such a light. Something small enough to fit within 1x1 LEGO bricks and rotate at the same time. Yeah, this was going to be a tough one!
The LMB team went through 5 different rounds of development including luminance, heat testing and durability. Consequently, the Mercedes-Benz Arocs light kit was pushed back for several months as we tackled this design hurdle.
Finally, the team came up with a design version that met our rigorous standards.
Our Rotating Bit Light component contains four tiny bit lights, assembled on a PCB board. Measuring at a tiny 5.5mm (h) x 3.5mm (w), our component is able to fit underneath any trans coloured 1x1 LEGO brick or in the middle of any 2x2 trans coloured Technic brick!
When activated, each side of the four tiny bit lights light up one by one in a singular rotation, giving the impression of a light rotating around! We couldn't have been more pleased with the end result.
The fact that this rotating light effect can fit in virtually ANY LEGO trans-coloured brick means so many design possibilities for our LEGO customers. We're really excited to see what our MOC & DIY customers can do with these amazing lights.
To see the lights in action, check out our product demonstration video below:
Video Demonstration