Led lighting system

A system for generating artificial light, the system comprising:

• at least two devices that detect light emitted from a plurality of lighting element channels and that generate respective signals indicative of the detected light;
• and
• a controller coupled to the plurality of lighting element channels, the controller using the respective signals indicative of the detected light to drive the plurality of lighting element channels, the controller using a color match algorithm to create respective drive signals for the plurality of lighting elements, the drive signals varying a brightness level and a color level for each of the plurality of lighting element channels,
• wherein the plurality of lighting element channels includes:
• a first lighting element channel operable to generate a first spectrum of white light, and a second lighting element channel operable to generate a second spectrum of white light.

A method to generate artificial light, the method comprising:

• activating each of a plurality of channels of lighting elements, generating a respective signal representative of detected light created by the plurality of channels of lighting elements;
• creating respective drive signals for each of the plurality of channels of lighting elements based at least in part on the color match algorithm and the representative signals of detected light;
• and
• providing the respective drive signals to the plurality of channels of lighting elements to vary a brightness level and color level of each of the plurality of channels of lighting elements,
• wherein the plurality of channels of lighting elements includes:
• a first channel operable to generate a spectrum of cool white light, and a second channel operable to generate a spectrum of warm white light.