Triple R2 Concept

[SMSAlmer]

Hi, would like to demonstrate an idea I had in mind. I am just a novice in these things, so would appriciate some help.

Not as neat as some, but will this work? My idea is to spread the beams; it is to be mounted vertically, as in the pics.

Is there any way I can control each of the LEDs separately?

Thanks!

 

[lecoder]

It's a really nice looking design. I'm not sure about the need to spread the emitters. I guess that comes down to personal preference and how you're using the light.

Another issue might be with the light being mounting vertically and presumably from the bottom. You'll putting a lot of force on the mount that might cause slipping/movement when it gets bumpy. Again, comes down to how you're using the light.

As for will it work, only one way to find out and thats build it. Looks damn sexy though

 

[SMSAlmer]

Thanks! Only problem is that to machine that thing involves a lot of work, mainly drilling the holes at the angles in that plate in the middle.

For the holder, I thought of holding it from 4-points, i.e. two bolts near the top, another two near the bottom.

 

[John_Galt]

That is a beautiful rendering. Is that Autocad Inventor? Fun program, huh.
Looks very functional. Any idea what LED's you're going to use?

 

[SMSAlmer]

Thanks :twothumbs Yes, it's Inventor. Had to learn to use it for a project at University, very functional.

Thinking about Cree XR-E (R2), and running them in series with a bFlex driver. I think an 11.1V battery is most suitable, right?

Here is something else I thought about, simpler and hopefully easier to produce,

The dark blue thing in the middle is an approximate model of the driver. In this, the same reflector (7degree), and lenses are used (13 and 25 degrees) but their axes are parallel.

In this im worried about heat dissipation though!

 

[LukeA]

You could probably shell out most of your parts to about 0.125 in. You don't need all that cross-sectional area, but you do need some more surface area to keep it cool.

You should also consider adding a circular pattern of fins longitudinally to the direction of travel on the frontmost aluminum part.

 

[A123Powered]

I like the second one, and the mixed use of optics and reflectors could be cool. One thing I would change though is the mount. It should be able to move left and right to some degree since a bar mount will probably not point straight ahead.

 

[unterhausen]

I don't know that any mount I've seen allows rotation relative to the bars. Seems like it would be fairly complicated to do that

 

[dhiris]

I like the second one. If you could point the top one high and control it separately (as a high beam on a car) would be awesome. I'd go with 80 degree optics on the high beam and 100-130 on the bottom 2 so you can flood better right in front of the bike. You could also use a P7 on the high beam and P4s on the bottom 2 to make it road friendly.

 

[znomit]

I don't know that any mount I've seen allows rotation relative to the bars. Seems like it would be fairly complicated to do that

Cateye flex tight has a bit of wiggle.

OP, nice designs.

 

[Steve K]

Hi, would like to demonstrate an idea I had in mind. I am just a novice in these things, so would appriciate some help.


Not as neat as some, but will this work? My idea is to spread the beams; it is to be mounted vertically, as in the pics.

Is there any way I can control each of the LEDs separately?

Thanks!

I like the idea... I've had the same idea myself, but have been too lazy to fully implement it. You may want to run a rough experiment to validate the concept before commiting it to hardware.

My idea for implementing the rough experiment is to mount the leds on a flat aluminum extrusion that is used as a heatsink. To change the angle of one led, my idea is to cut or mill out the three sides of the aluminum around the led. This leaves the led supported just on one side, effectively forming a hinge of sorts. The aluminum can be bent at this "hinge", allowing the led to be tilted.

So far, I've found that my relatively narrow optics put enough light in front of me that I don't want to tilt one of them down. My light is for road use, and is powered by a hub dynamo. The Ledil CRS-SS puts plenty of light right in front of me, even though it is a +/- 7 degree beam. The light has 4 leds, and I've recently changed three of them to the Ledil Rocket SS with a +/- 4 degree beam. This lets me tighten up most of the beam, and aim the light slightly higher to put more light further down the road without blinding oncoming traffic.

My light allows the use of just two leds at slow speeds, and four leds at high speeds. The dynamo can't generate enough voltage at slow speeds to power four leds, and honestly, I don't need that much light when I'm going slow.

What sort of control were you looking for? Control of the beam tilt, or electrical control of the led(s)?

regards,
Steve K.

 

[SMSAlmer]

Thanks for the replies!
I've rather abandoned my first idea, I think it's difficult to produce.

Dhiris, aren't 80 and 100 degree optics very wide for bike applications?

My recent idea is about these lines: A couple of housings, each containing an MC-E, one with a narrow lens, the other a bit wider. Ledil Iris (+-5deg) and Eva-M (+-11). These seem two of the best optics at the moment aren't they? Problem is they are LARGE!

Also, about controlling the lights,

Each LED has a separate driver, which accepts an input for dimming, such as a buckpuck.

Using an AUTOMOTIVE MIRROR SWITCH, I would set up a digital logic circuit such that:

L-R switch ……..On-Off
Sideways motion controls brightness
Up-down motion controls power bias between the spot and the flood.

Example:

I have yet to learn more about electronic control first! Anybody who can help me design the circuit is welcome!

 

[Steve K]

Thanks for the replies!
I've rather abandoned my first idea, I think it's difficult to produce.


Also, about controlling the lights,

Each LED has a separate driver, which accepts an input for dimming, such as a buckpuck.

Using an AUTOMOTIVE MIRROR SWITCH, I would set up a digital logic circuit such that:

L-R switch ……..On-Off
Sideways motion controls brightness
Up-down motion controls power bias between the spot and the flood.

Example:


I have yet to learn more about electronic control first! Anybody who can help me design the circuit is welcome!

regarding electronics.... a microcontroller would be the best solution. It could read the switches and store the selection(s). The microcontroller would then control a current-mode switching power supply for each of the MC-E's.
The downside is that you need to learn to program them (probably with C?), and get a development kit to let you program & debug the software.

Since I don't have any experience with current microcontrollers, I might try using a couple of digital potentiometers to control the brightness of each light. Each potentiometer could control a switching power supply for one MC-E.

This would take some work, though. I don't know of any off-the-shelf gadget that would do what you want.

Steve K.

 

[sfCyclotourist]

I don't know that any mount I've seen allows rotation relative to the bars. Seems like it would be fairly complicated to do that

This one does

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2198

 

[Illum]

very nice renderings SMSAlmer, are these created from Autodesk Inventor or Solidworks?

 

[A123Powered]

Check out the PICAXE

Check out the PICAXE, you should be able to implement your switch idea pretty easily using just BASIC programming. The PICAXE does not require an expensive programmer, just a serial cable and some resistors. Most have built in PWM outs for the buckpuck, you should be able to do it with an 08M or better, but check the docs to make sure it has enough inputs/outputs and a PWM out. Lots of docs online for it as well. One tip though, tie all unused pins to ground with a 10k resistor, especially the serial in pin, or you will see erratic behavior. You can also download the free program editor for PICAXE to get an idea of which chip you need and simulate the program before buying anything.

 

[SMSAlmer]

Yep its Inventor. Thanks! Btw, Illum, I am intriuged by your nickname. You know what it means in Maltese? :laughing:

Cool site. Exactly what I needed. I will definately have a good look at it and try to find a solution...
Ever used them?

 

[Illum]

I have no idea...

Illumination was used, so I justified fort a short name

 

[SMSAlmer]

It just means 'today'. Never passed my mind it was short for illumination...

 

[imageicon]

very nice drawings..! nice to see some concept idea's out in the open...

Dhiris.. your a mad man 80 degree floods why on ear would you use that?? i usually do 8 degree optics on my mountainbiking lights and for dual emitter setups they are floody enough... anything beyond 12 or 16 degrees will definatly be a waste in my opinion