Dumb ideas...

Have you ever had any silly ideas for flashlight features? You know the kind - not completely unfeasible, but they make people go "WHY on EARTH?!?" The sillier and more "gadgety", the better


Here's a few i've had (in no particular order):


1) motorized reflector focus w/ programmable presets - a very smallish servo would do, and you could tie the focus settings to brightness settings (i.e. a setting for throw+full power, a flood setting, book reading setting etc.)

2) built-in electronic compass, with light brightness or strobe frequency as an indicator - you turn the flashlight around, until it glows brightest or strobes fastest at which point it's pointing north-south

3) accelerometer w/ automatic locator strobe in case you drop the flashlight + (maybe) very simple optional gestures (shaking, flipping etc.)

4) touch strips - i know we all prefer tactile controls, but they are solid state, can easily be made water resistant and can make some kinds of control extremely intuitive (brightness, color)

5) continuous piston drive control - the more you push it in, the brighter the light; once you let it go, it remains switched on at that brightness setting; pushing it all the way does momentary, while pushing all the way + long holding switches it on at max. power


Come on, i'm sure everyone has thoughts / ideas like that every once in a while. Let's compile them in one place and have some fun

I'm pretty sure my idea of a 26 -LED showerhead was sort of weird.

Only one thing.


The LEDs were SSC P7s.

LOL

With an external backpack power-pack, i presume

#1 is not so dumb - the MaxaBeam has this feature.

I was thinking of a self-destruct button. A button that punctures the Li-Ion power source. This way when airport security takes it away, they can't have a new toy for their collection.

I was trying to figure a way to use that "Vent with Flame" as an advantage.

I couldn't figure out how to turn it into a one-time use flamethrower for self-defense. To do that would have required for it not to work as a flashlight or to not be waterproof for the vent holes.

#4 has also been done in the Garity keychain light, and a 2xAAA one I saw at Dollar General (off brand).

Flashlight Aficionado said:

I was thinking of a self-destruct button. A button that punctures the Li-Ion power source. This way when airport security takes it away, they can't have a new toy for their collection.

Click to expand...

And you get an all-expenses-paid trip to southern Cuba!

Flashlight Aficionado said:

I was thinking of a self-destruct button. A button that punctures the Li-Ion power source. This way when airport security takes it away, they can't have a new toy for their collection.

I was trying to figure a way to use that "Vent with Flame" as an advantage.

I couldn't figure out how to turn it into a one-time use flamethrower for self-defense. To do that would have required for it not to work as a flashlight or to not be waterproof for the vent holes.

Click to expand...

Well, I was hoping to integrate a nuclear power source into mine. Let's combine designs!

Did anyone read my original post? I wanted to make a Fenix light with two to four sections that could use 1AA, 1CR123A, 2AA, and 3 CR123A batteries. It would use plastic hollow spacers to fit around the AAs so they'd fit in a tube made for CR123As. One CR123A configuration would use just the head and tailcap. The one AA setup would use a small section to make it longer. 3 CR123A setup would add a longer section for a total of four sections. To use 2AA, just take out the two plastic spacers. What you basically would have is a P2D, P3D (sort of, it would use 3 cells), L1D, and L2D without having to carry around spare parts.

Another thought would be to make a light with a rubber or kevlar type material that stretches for the reflector. Make a light sort of like a Maglite that is adjustable from spot to flood, but in which the top or bottom of the reflector is adjusted to be short and wide for flood or long and narrower for maximum throw, or any combination between the two.

Re: #1 - i've meant in a pocketable (1x or 2x AA, CR123) flashlight form factor.

Re: #4 - haven't seen those before, but just to clarify - i didn't mean just a touch sensitive button, but a strip that acts like a "scroll slider" (output changes depending on the part of the strip you're touching, or depending on the movement of your finger across it)

orcinus said:

Re: #1 - i've meant in a pocketable (1x or 2x AA, CR123) flashlight form factor.

Re: #4 - haven't seen those before, but just to clarify - i didn't mean just a touch sensitive button, but a strip that acts like a "scroll slider" (output changes depending on the part of the strip you're touching, or depending on the movement of your finger across it)

Click to expand...

You mean a touchpad?

Wasteful. Never happen. Not effective. Fragile.

maxa beam said:

You mean a touchpad?

Wasteful. Never happen. Not effective. Fragile.

Click to expand...

Yeah, because the touch area on an Ipod doesn't work at all....

Not necessarily. You're probably thinking "laptop touchpads".
But you can do it with more or less any strip of metal (as long as it's isolated from the rest of the body) and can be far more robust than any switch or twisty mechanism.

The trouble is, like i've said, there's no tactile feedback and it's very hard to prevent accidental activation. Unless you build in a lock switch of some sort, which brings you to square one. And explains why it's a dumb idea

Marduke said:

Yeah, because the touch area on an Ipod doesn't work at all....

Click to expand...

I've never seen an Ipod submerged, dropped from 30+ feet, or endure any strain without the touch-screen being damaged. A light and a music player are WAY different.

How much EASIER would it be to use a different method of mode control? less expensive, MORE effective and responsive? (Let's scramble and find the touch-pad and try 2 or 3 times while it responds in a heated situation.)

maxa beam said:

I've never seen an Ipod submerged, dropped from 30+ feet, or endure any strain without the touch-screen being damaged. A light and a music player are WAY different.

How much EASIER would it be to use a different method of mode control? less expensive, MORE effective and responsive? (Let's scramble and find the touch-pad and try 2 or 3 times while it responds in a heated situation.)

Click to expand...

Well, a "touch strip" has nothing to do with a touch screen. And it would be very water resistant. A touch strip can be totally sealed, unlike a button. And it would certainly take a beating. A touchpad is not made from sensitive electronics as you may think.

Exactly my points

mighty82 said:

Well, a "touch strip" has nothing to do with a touch screen. And it would be very water resistant. A touch strip can be totally sealed, unlike a button. And it would certainly take a beating. A touchpad is not made from sensitive electronics as you may think.

Click to expand...

The iPod clickwheels had 96 discrete regions. A touchpanel for a light might need 10 or 20 and would be totally solid-state as it doesn't need to click. But even better suited would be something mechanical that could be operated through gloves.

How about an optical touchstrip?
In essence, a simplified (1 axis, no need for fancy DPI figures), upturned optical mouse sensor.

Similar to the navigation pad of Samsung i780.

It's completely solid state, can be operated with gloves (or, in fact, any textured object) and can be sealed and reinforced efficiently (as it just needs a very small glass window to work).

Not as elegant and robust as a touch strip, though...

A touch strip or an optical sensor would work, and it would be fancy. But it will not be comfortable to use, and you would constantly have to watch where you put your fingers.

This way when airport security takes it away, they can't have a new toy for their collection.

Hahahahahahahahaah love it!!!


ok, my dumb idea: a light with no internal powersource. Instead it has two little metal projections. To power it you plug it into a lemon.

yes, it' would be marketed as "the lemon"