Designing a Lighting System for a Structure

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on mathematically modeling point light sources within a structure to ensure adequate lighting levels while minimizing power consumption. The user seeks to achieve a minimum lux value on all surfaces, excluding areas like shadows under tables. They consider simplifying the geometry to a rectangular prism or hollow sphere for calculations. The user expresses interest in using Radiance for ray-tracing to obtain accurate lighting values, although they seek basic hand-calculable estimates for preliminary design purposes.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of lighting concepts, specifically lux and lumens
  • Familiarity with geometric simplifications, such as rectangular prisms and spheres
  • Knowledge of albedo and its impact on light reflection
  • Basic principles of ray tracing and its application in lighting design
NEXT STEPS
  • Research how to use Radiance for lighting simulations and ray tracing
  • Learn about calculating light distribution using geometric optics
  • Explore methods for estimating lighting requirements based on surface area and albedo
  • Investigate alternative lighting design software that interfaces with AutoCAD
USEFUL FOR

Architects, lighting designers, and engineers involved in the design and optimization of lighting systems within structures.

TheFerruccio
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I wish to mathematically represent point light sources inside a structure, and figure out how much like is scattered throughout the structure.

Specifically, I have lighting values of a certain amount of lux, and I need to ensure that the structure has a minimum of (certain value) lux touching all surfaces (maybe excluding things like shadows under tables). I don't want to go overboard on power consumption, though.

How, mathematically, should I go about figuring out how to do this? I'm thinking of simplifying the structure to something like a rectangular prism, or even just a hollow sphere of equal surface area.

I'm very confused at this point and I don't really know where to start.
 
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Would it help to model the interior of the structure in a ray-tracing programme?
 
The only program I know about that is capable of giving actual lighting values on different surfaces is Radiance, and I don't have AutoCAD to interface it with.

At this point, I just want some real basic estimates that I can calculate by hand. I'm talking about big simplifications, because this is just a preliminary design for the lighting system. Extremely rough estimates that are only good for about an order of magnitude approximation.

I don't want to simply take the light intensity in lumens and divide by the interior surface area of the structure. I want to do something a little bit more detailed than that.

I would know the albedos of the different components of the interior walls/floor/ceiling.
 

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