Vehicular dual mode illumination module

A vehicular dual mode illumination module, the vehicular dual mode illumination module comprising:

• mounting structure configured for mounting the vehicular dual mode illumination module at a vehicle;
• a housing;
• a printed circuit board accommodated by the housing;
• a first light emitting diode (LED) disposed at the printed circuit board and operable to emit visible white light when electrically powered;
• a second near infrared (near-IR) LED disposed at the printed circuit board and operable to emit non-visible near-IR light when electrically powered;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, and when the vehicle is parked and the first LED is electrically powered, the first LED emits visible white light to provide visible illumination at a first region exterior of the vehicle;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, electrical powering of the first LED is locked-out during movement of the vehicle;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, and when the second near-IR LED is electrically powered, the second near-IR LED emits non-visible near-IR light to illuminate a second region exterior of the vehicle and to provide non-visible illumination for a camera viewing the second region;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, electrical powering of the second near-IR LED is not locked-out during movement of the vehicle;
• and
• wherein the first LED is not electrically powered when the second near-IR LED is electrically powered.

A vehicular dual mode illumination module, the vehicular dual mode illumination module comprising:

• mounting structure configured for mounting the vehicular dual mode illumination module at a vehicle;
• a housing;
• a printed circuit board accommodated by the housing;
• a first light emitting diode (LED) disposed at the printed circuit board and operable to emit visible white light when electrically powered;
• a second near-infrared (near-IR) LED disposed at the printed circuit board and operable to emit non-visible near-IR light when electrically powered;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, and when the vehicle is parked and the first LED is electrically powered, the first LED emits visible white light to provide visible illumination at a first region exterior of the vehicle;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, electrical powering of the first LED is locked-out during movement of the vehicle;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, and when the second near-IR LED is electrically powered, the second near-IR LED emits non-visible near-IR light to illuminate a second region exterior of the vehicle and to provide non-visible illumination for a camera viewing the second region;
• wherein, with the vehicular dual mode illumination module mounted at the vehicle, and during a driving maneuver of the vehicle, the second near-IR LED is electrically powered and the camera captures frames of image data;
• and
• wherein the camera captures frames of image data at a camera frame rate, and wherein the second near-IR LED is episodically pulsed on and off at a pulse rate, and wherein the pulses rate of the second near-IR LED is synchronized with the frame capture rate of the camera.