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Each quarter we feature one member of the Raleigh Section in our quarterly newsletter. Do you know a researcher, lighting designer, engineer, or other member of our community with an exceptional story? We want to hear from you!
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Do you have an exceptional lighting project here in the Raleigh/East Carolina area you want to highlight? Submit your project for a chance to have it showcased in our quarterly newsletter!
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Summer 2026
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LiteSource is the Carolinas' full-service commercial lighting and controls partner, the trusted, technical resource that keeps every project moving from concept to close-out.
Since 2001, our team of specialists has guided architects, specifiers, lighting designers, electrical contractors, facility managers, and building owners from first photometric layout to final switch-on.
We represent a carefully curated group of manufacturers who, like us, believe that relationships are the core of our business. Locally owned and locally headquartered, our territory spans “from Murphy to Manteo” and into the Palmetto State.
Where other reps hand off after the order ships, LiteSource stays in — through controls commissioning, submittals, delivery coordination, and close-out. We also offer AIA HSW-accredited education; bringing lunch-and-learns, and continuing education credits directly to your team. One relationship, one point of contact for every phase of the project. We make lighting simple.
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Project Feature
2025 IES Raleigh Illumination Award ~Experiential Lighting Design Category~ winner:
NC State Hunt Library BookBot Relight
Lighting Designer: Leah Robinson | Pivotal Lighting Design
NCSU's Hunt Library employs a robotic delivery system that can store up to two million items and deliver any of them within five minutes of a click in the online catalog. Visitors and students can view the ingenuity of the "bookBot" at work through windows that allow them to look into the vast archive. The archive system consists of four 120-ft long aisles flanked by 50-ft tall storage racks filled with bins of books each served by a robotic carriage system with a crane arm and bin-picking armature collectively known as the bookBot. Spotlights were also mounted on the cranes to highlight the robotic movement.
In the years since opening, the onboard lighting had proven insufficient to see the robots working in the darkness. To compensate, the library resorted to using the overhead fluorescent maintenance lighting during active hours. Those lights were never intended for this duty cycle and, consequently, were steadily failing. A lift could not be used for maintenance because the aisles were too narrow and obstructed by a floor-mounted power rail.
The bookBot is in-use almost daily over the course of the year, but the relight project would necessitate a minimum 6-week shutdown. This inconvenience presented the library a unique opportunity to further enhance the visitor experience. The new LED lighting system would incorporate white+RRR boards to bathe the active aisle (or aisles) in Wolfpack red when the carriages were in motion. Simultaneously, the white lighting would extinguish while the robot traversed the aisles. Additionally, on-board red LED tape light installed on the crane arms would engage with the robot activation and provide a dynamic element as the red light shown against the shiny metal bins while the carriage sailed down the aisles. When the carriage returned to rest, the normal all-white state would be restored.
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The viewing area outside the bookBot known as robot alley is a meeting point for study groups and tour groups alike.|
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To extend the life, light output was overdesigned relying upon the control system to alternate circuits and dim the lights providing sufficient daily background illumination. |
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Leaning into the industrialized nature of the space, the library architect was comfortable with drivers and control equipment lined up along side the racks.
Laser position sensors track the carriages starting the show when items are called. Patrons frequent the "demo" button just to see the bookBot in action.
While other colors were considered to discern the aisles, the obvious answer for this signature landmark of the Raleigh and NC State communities was red.IES Raleigh Section 2026 Illumination Awards opens in October ... get your lighting project ready!
Job Listings
Interior Designer | Apogee Consulting Group | Charlotte, NC | Apogee Careers
Licensed Healthcare Project Architect | Apogee Consulting Group | Cary, NC | Apogee Careers
Lighting Designer II | Pivotal Lighting Design of Affiliated Engineers | Chapel Hill, NC | AEI Careers
Electrical Senior Project Engineer | Affiliated Engineers | Chapel Hill, NC | AEI Careers
Electrical Senior Project Engineer - Substation | Affiliated Engineers | Chapel Hill, NC | AEI Careers
If you or your company is trying to fill a position in North Carolina working in the lighting and electrical field, post that position here: IES Raleigh Job Postings (Members only, please)
