Remotely (IR) controlled voltage regulator

[brembo]

I was behind my display with my flashlight routing wires and left my ~800 lumen torch on while tailstanding it to go grab a ziptie. I flipped off the overhead as I left. Came back and saw that backlighting my display is gorgeous. Way better than the overhead. Aside from the hotspot the light was easier on my eyes.

So, my excuse for a brain says "Hey, wouldn't a light bar behind the display with a remote dimmer be snazzy?" Fire up google and find a metric ton of remote control voltage regulators. However these regulators are driven off DC battery packs and the remote function is radio, not IR. I need(well...want very much) IR driven as my universal remote is THE key to my HT setup. I refuse to have more than one remote.

I have no idea where to find such an item or where to look for components to fab up such a creature. My skill level is so-so, I can read schematics, solder just fine and do simple electronics related maths. I'd like a pre-built solution with CE or UL backing just ti be safe honestly.

I'm thinking that three XM-L, T5 bin (on the warmer side of things) driven around 1A should do what I need. Toss a diffuser on em and have that glorious light behind my display.

Any thoughts?

 

[brembo]

Wow, Digikey has lots of...stuff. Bit hard to navigate.

Thinking a triac IR dimmer on the front end, with three properly spec'd drivers in series. I found a triac for 20 bucks or so that'll support 300W. Line up three drivers behind that at 5 volts/1.5 amp max. Am I missing anything here? Do I need to throttle the triac more or will the drivers handle that? Looking at this driver
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=VLED15-120-1500-ND

Will something like this just create excess heat? Want to build this myself for the fun aspect of it, or should I just buy a few pre-made ceiling mount LEDs and go that route?

 

[Steve K]

It looks like that driver just takes the output from a standard lamp dimmer, and provides a variable current in response. They offer a number of versions, so you can select whatever output voltage range is appropriate for the number of leds in the string or whatever current suits your leds and # of strings.

There are also drivers that accept AC input for power and a 0 to 10v analog input voltage to control the output current. This is the standard control format for a lot of the fancier lighting controls.

The harder part is the remote control part, isn't it? Especially if you want to work from an IR universal remote? Did you find a dimmer module that accepts an IR signal as a control input? Interesting problem... my instinct would be to get a microcontroller system like an Arduino and start coding, but that's not the easiest way to do it!

regards,
Steve K.

 

[ryguy24000]

Why not use LED puck style lights?

 

[brembo]

I did indeed find an IR controlled triac dimmer.

http://factory.dhgate.com/dimmers/triac-dimmer-led-driver-for-100v-240vac-p46305485.html
So it's out there, just have to find a US distributor that does not want my first-born for shipping.

The driver will be easy as digikey has a huge selection.

I thought about pre-made light assemblies for this, but I really want to mess around with some stars. I do not have the skills to make my own flashlight, but a light bar I think I can hack.

 

[Steve K]

nifty dimmer! I suspect that there are other similar designs, considering how sophisticated some lighting is for conference rooms and other places. Leviton sells lighting controls.. maybe they have something?

Does this satisfy the need to use the universal remote? Does it have a learning mode?

Yeah, if you can get a remote control dimmer, then the LED driver that recognizes dimming does make the overall design feasible. Mounting LED stars to suitable heatsinks, optics (if needed), etc. isn't all that complicated. Should be a fun project. :)

Steve K.

 

[brembo]

Oh yeah my remote can handle it. I got it as a gift from a friend that does pro A/V installs. It's a Genesis model UbiversalRemote, hooks up to a computer via USB. The learning mode is a snap with that interface and macros are dead simple, drag and drop.

 

[brembo]

I have a source for bare emitters, have a PM into a CPF member for some boards. Have my links saved for the triac and will dig into the drivers on digikey once the emitters are safely mated to the boards.

My plan is to macro the play function on the remote to a set dim and macro the bright setting to stop and pause. With the absolutely nutso macro capability this remote sports (256 unique steps per macro, 100s of macros storage) I could even get really fancy and have the light(s) gently go up/down. I think it'll be really cool and one of those "ohhhhhh.....neat" kinda things.

Quick question as well.

The triac I have in mind is a constant current (2.7A) and variable voltage(0-240). So what kind of driver do I want? Constant current or constant voltage?

 

[doctaq]

did you happen on any regulators that could be used like a potentiometer?

 

[brembo]

If you mean analog type interface, no. All seemed to be digital with steps rather than infinite adjustment.

If you mean a dial that ya twist, then the one I linked has a knob.

 

[purduephotog]

zigbee

 

[doctaq]

how about digital then? maybe i just dont know what to look for, thanks to the op for starting this thread