AUTOMATIC LIGHT-INTENSITY CONTROL

An illumination sensing and light level control system for an area of interest includes a light collector to collect and focus light from a relatively large portion of the area of interest, a light-sensitive array including a matrix of light-intensity sensitive elements for receiving light collected and focused by the collector, a multiplexer and signal conditioner for processing and digitizing the light intensity values, a microprocessor for processing the digitized data and controlling the operation and control functions of the system, and a controller for controlling the light level of one or more lamps or sets of lamps associated with the area of interest. A calibration device is used to generate the desired matrix values for comparison.