wquiles
Flashaholic
This is a project that started as an idea back in 2007-2008, but back then I still did not know enough machining nor I had done my own PWB boards/firmware, so the idea grew slowly in the back of my mind, as I did not know yet how the heck I was going to pull this off.
My intention is to come up with a heavy duty diving light, that also works great as a heavy duty flashlight around the home/office/car/etc. - basically a diving-rated, heavy duty light that you can always reach for, when you need a little, or a lot of light. But I also wanted a new way to use the light - a new user interface. So like any complex project, I divided the project into two "parts" - the dive-rated host, and the new user interface.
Since designing the new dive-rated host is relatively easier, I started design on the new user interface first. The original inspiration for the new user interface came up from using other multi-level LED lights over the last 5-6 years. Some of these offered 2, or 3, or 6 levels, some 16 levels, but I did not completely like the user interface in these for several reasons:
- You could not have very small steps for the very low end, and at the same time still have enough steps to cover the mid and full brightness levels.
- Even if you had enough steps, you were always forced to go through the full arc of motion or many button press/push cycles to go from lowest level to high - it was relatively slow to reach max. brightness from the OFF/LOW level.
- Few of these were dive-rated, due to using a push button.
I also wanted a new interface that did not require the user to have to learn/memorize/remember a particular sequence/etc.. Something intuitive, without SOS, blinking lights, zombie-killing mode, etc. Just a smooth transition between really low, and really high, in an intuitive and easy to use package. My idea is that you could hand my light to any person, and without having to read a manual, that person would be able to use/operate the light. Since nothing like what I wanted existed, I have to come up with my own design, and learn new skills in order to do it all on my own, so of course it has taken a while (literally a couple of years).
My new user interface that I came up with (actually "Patent Pending") is based on a custom designed, microprocessor controller board (called "MagnetoDrive"), which when used with an LED driver allows for 255 steps of brightness. This controller has an user interface that allows the user to get "all" of those steps - this interface running in the MagnetoDrive I call the "SmartDial". So the MagnetoDrive is the "board" or the brains, and the "user interface" is called SmartDial.
My MagnetoDrive with SmartDial (MD-SD) translates the movement of the selector dial into a variable brightness output, with the main characteristic being that the steps are selected based on the speed at which the user is moving the freely-moving selector dial. So except for the physical stops at both ends of the arc (OFF and 100% ON), there are "no" physical steps, no detents of any kind in the control dial - the dial moves 100% smoothly and freely from one end to the other.
How it works:
- Move the control dial slowly, and you get very small steps, but of course the max. brightness can't be achieved since the range of motion is limited to the low brightness levels.
- Move the control dial at a normal speed, and moving through the range of motion goes through min to max brightness, but the steps are of course bigger.
- Move the control dial at a very fast speed, and the max. brightness is achieved almost instantly - this is like the turbo mode. Just a very quick "flick" of the dial gets you to max. brightness level.
- Since the control is continuous, you can start slow, then move fast, or any mix – it all happens automatically.
Here are some videos I took tonight:
MagnetoDrive - moving of the control dial slowly
MagnetoDrive - moving of the control dial at normal speed
MagnetoDrive - moving the control dial very fast – a "flick" to achieve max brightness - "turbo" mode!
I have a lot of the design for the new host completed, but I needed a platform to test and fine tune the new user interface provided by the MS-SD. I tried to use existing flashlight parts to create the "mule", and I settled on a "D" size Mag type of host (using only the tailcap and the head) as an ideal place to start. Although the diving light that I want to create will be smaller, this mule now has a fully working MD-SD:
In the next post I will describe the steps/work towards making this mule, which has been a great vehicle to further testing the design - remember that a design might look perfect on paper or in my mind, but nothing beats having a real, physical working unit!. I also needed a fully working unit before I could submit the Patent paperwork (done already), so the mule has been great to have. I am currently working on a second prototype unit, which will be closer to the dive-rated flashlight that I have in mind, so I will update this thread as I make more progress on it.
I also forgot to add that the MD controller incorporates automatic thermal control (lowers brightness to protect the host from over-heating), as well as low-battery monitoring in two stages:
- automatically lower output level as the battery has 5-10% energy left
- shutdown to prevent over-discharge of cells
I hope you will find this interesting - please let me know your thoughts on how this MS-SD looks to you
Edit: April 9th 2012:
Complete, fully working 2nd prototype for the MagnetoDrive (I have to re-do the tailcap - it might be functional, but does not quite look like it belongs there!):
2nd prototype turned ON, sitting on a table, showing the visual effect of the lightweight bezel (in these two pictures you can really see the neutral tint in these 3x XP-G LEDs):
Will
PS In my rush to post this last night, I neglected to say thanks to Barry Milton (and the rest of the great guys in the machining sub-forum) and George Scolaro (TaskLED) for their help and mentoring these last several years, and for their help/advice in this project :bow:
My intention is to come up with a heavy duty diving light, that also works great as a heavy duty flashlight around the home/office/car/etc. - basically a diving-rated, heavy duty light that you can always reach for, when you need a little, or a lot of light. But I also wanted a new way to use the light - a new user interface. So like any complex project, I divided the project into two "parts" - the dive-rated host, and the new user interface.
Since designing the new dive-rated host is relatively easier, I started design on the new user interface first. The original inspiration for the new user interface came up from using other multi-level LED lights over the last 5-6 years. Some of these offered 2, or 3, or 6 levels, some 16 levels, but I did not completely like the user interface in these for several reasons:
- You could not have very small steps for the very low end, and at the same time still have enough steps to cover the mid and full brightness levels.
- Even if you had enough steps, you were always forced to go through the full arc of motion or many button press/push cycles to go from lowest level to high - it was relatively slow to reach max. brightness from the OFF/LOW level.
- Few of these were dive-rated, due to using a push button.
I also wanted a new interface that did not require the user to have to learn/memorize/remember a particular sequence/etc.. Something intuitive, without SOS, blinking lights, zombie-killing mode, etc. Just a smooth transition between really low, and really high, in an intuitive and easy to use package. My idea is that you could hand my light to any person, and without having to read a manual, that person would be able to use/operate the light. Since nothing like what I wanted existed, I have to come up with my own design, and learn new skills in order to do it all on my own, so of course it has taken a while (literally a couple of years).
My new user interface that I came up with (actually "Patent Pending") is based on a custom designed, microprocessor controller board (called "MagnetoDrive"), which when used with an LED driver allows for 255 steps of brightness. This controller has an user interface that allows the user to get "all" of those steps - this interface running in the MagnetoDrive I call the "SmartDial". So the MagnetoDrive is the "board" or the brains, and the "user interface" is called SmartDial.
My MagnetoDrive with SmartDial (MD-SD) translates the movement of the selector dial into a variable brightness output, with the main characteristic being that the steps are selected based on the speed at which the user is moving the freely-moving selector dial. So except for the physical stops at both ends of the arc (OFF and 100% ON), there are "no" physical steps, no detents of any kind in the control dial - the dial moves 100% smoothly and freely from one end to the other.
How it works:
- Move the control dial slowly, and you get very small steps, but of course the max. brightness can't be achieved since the range of motion is limited to the low brightness levels.
- Move the control dial at a normal speed, and moving through the range of motion goes through min to max brightness, but the steps are of course bigger.
- Move the control dial at a very fast speed, and the max. brightness is achieved almost instantly - this is like the turbo mode. Just a very quick "flick" of the dial gets you to max. brightness level.
- Since the control is continuous, you can start slow, then move fast, or any mix – it all happens automatically.
Here are some videos I took tonight:
MagnetoDrive - moving of the control dial slowly
MagnetoDrive - moving of the control dial at normal speed
MagnetoDrive - moving the control dial very fast – a "flick" to achieve max brightness - "turbo" mode!
I have a lot of the design for the new host completed, but I needed a platform to test and fine tune the new user interface provided by the MS-SD. I tried to use existing flashlight parts to create the "mule", and I settled on a "D" size Mag type of host (using only the tailcap and the head) as an ideal place to start. Although the diving light that I want to create will be smaller, this mule now has a fully working MD-SD:
In the next post I will describe the steps/work towards making this mule, which has been a great vehicle to further testing the design - remember that a design might look perfect on paper or in my mind, but nothing beats having a real, physical working unit!. I also needed a fully working unit before I could submit the Patent paperwork (done already), so the mule has been great to have. I am currently working on a second prototype unit, which will be closer to the dive-rated flashlight that I have in mind, so I will update this thread as I make more progress on it.
I also forgot to add that the MD controller incorporates automatic thermal control (lowers brightness to protect the host from over-heating), as well as low-battery monitoring in two stages:
- automatically lower output level as the battery has 5-10% energy left
- shutdown to prevent over-discharge of cells
I hope you will find this interesting - please let me know your thoughts on how this MS-SD looks to you
Edit: April 9th 2012:
Complete, fully working 2nd prototype for the MagnetoDrive (I have to re-do the tailcap - it might be functional, but does not quite look like it belongs there!):
2nd prototype turned ON, sitting on a table, showing the visual effect of the lightweight bezel (in these two pictures you can really see the neutral tint in these 3x XP-G LEDs):
Will
PS In my rush to post this last night, I neglected to say thanks to Barry Milton (and the rest of the great guys in the machining sub-forum) and George Scolaro (TaskLED) for their help and mentoring these last several years, and for their help/advice in this project :bow:
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