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Marching band dad looking for prop design help, LED lighting, random flash

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As I mentioned above, brightness could well be a problem, but here are some pretty powerful LED's which might do the job for you, and are available in various colours:

**broken link removed**

As for MrDEB's suggested driver (with the FET), you could have the diodes series linked in three's, which would minimise the waste in the limiting resistors.
 
WOW! 3 watt leds. Wonder what specifications as per voltage, etc. but for $1 can't go wrong hopefully.
Yes three or more in series would reduce the waste in limiting resistor.
 
WOW! 3 watt leds. Wonder what specifications as per voltage, etc. but for $1 can't go wrong hopefully.
Yes three or more in series would reduce the waste in limiting resistor.

They have some 1W LED's as well, here's a list of the various ones:

https://www.banggood.com/search/high-power-leds.html

Perhaps this type of style might be better for him?, as they are already on little 'boards':

**broken link removed**
 
good question
Started cobbling a pcb design but yes it needs work and add some headers to facilitate connecting the leds plus a power connection.
There is room for additional channels. Board is 10cm x 10 cm. Uses smd but room for dip sockets if desired.
I,have lots of free time, what with all the rain we are having to build these boards etc. if M smith wants them built or a diy using dip sockets.
 

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Guys...thanks for the information. I am going to order 30 of those 3 w led lights for my prototype. I have a friend who is involved in the RC plane hobby world. He has some ideas on a more compact power source. Of course, RC batteries tend to be pricey, but that may lead me down a path to a lighter weight battery.

Ideally, I would need to source a board that would control the lights that I could wire in, install a switched power source and have leads to the lights.

MrDEB, if I read you last couple posts correctly, you indicated you might be able to help in this regard. I took a quick look and did not see a private message option to get you my contact info. If you are willing and would like to be highly compensated by a public high school marching band dad, I would take the belp.
 
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I once designed and built a flashing chaser box for a budding musician in my 1st job in a weekend. I had 8 ports with individual exclusive output but variable speed rotation in either direction by a Pot or a microphone to advance the lights with sound of the drums (kick drum) I used 20A triac output with a hand wound pulse transformer in 1976, but here we can use 65W LED strips with the biggest amp rating and brightest colours using 12 ATX supply and online MOSFET driver board for switching. Next define the sequence, so that you don't exceed your surplus ATX 750W supply 12V A ratings or Banggood LED driver($).

Then define max cable lengths . We will probably use AWG 16 cheap house wire to minimize cost and voltage drop with 10Adc


I would choose LED PAR lamps with DC for flash (glare) and LEDstrips for colour , pleasing colours. no glare. not AC LEDs due to reliability on flash nor LED chips, because you may spend a lot of time making heatsinks



so define your UX the user experience you want by looking at youtube video's and budget like $100 or $200 and total power in watts, as best as you know how. Also consider a great price for LEDstrips is $0.25/W and typ. $0.50/W. which varies widely with Total Lumens and quality.

my childhood buddy went on to become a famous music composer for Canadian/Us Films and B movies with over 120 credits and a Juno award. here he is on his Harley.
https://peterallenassociates.com/site/news/

Keep in mind American Idol's LED lightshow is possibly worth $10 million.chump change for them.
 
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Well did some calculations so lets verify for the common good
With a 12v supply powering 20 leds.
each led drops about 2volts per led depending on color
desired current is 500 ma (leds specified have a max of 700ma .7A)
so connecting 5 leds in series so you have 6 strings of 5
add a 5 ohm 2 watt resistor.
these IMO are safe calculations but there maybe a better method?
thinking maybe less current? or running string n parallel?. So many options
 
looking at battery source
a 1.13pound SLA battery is $13.95 BUT looking at say 750ma drain you might get away with a lighter battery source?? depending how long you need this to run??
 
I am about to launch a product dedicated to this specifically for WiFi control of LED lighting solutions up to 5 A per LED string.
Each 2.75 " square weatherproof module runs on an IoT processor and delivers 8 monochrome channels of 8 to 16V, 5A switching for full PWM effects. Thus one module can drive 2 RGBW strings for full color gamut.
Sequencing of complex effects is done by the freeware Vixen 2.0 software sequencer, downloaded via USB to a master control and relayed via wifi to all addressed 8 Channel LED modules. The master controller (Wifi) triggers the sequences based on a battery backed RTC START/STOP timer or Photocell.

The system 'remembers' the vixen 2.0 sequence and is independent of a PC linkup. The modules use very low bandwidth protocols, custom developed for this app. They are designed to run up to 25 second sequences of up to 1600 LED instructions with persistence until different PWM instruction is required. The instructions are vector instructions which direct the PWM to a target value over a target time frame. 100mS time stepping.

Multiple Modules can be run standalone without Wifi and remain in decent sync over a few hours once they are powered up simultaneously.

There's a video of it in action lower down on this project page:
https://hackaday.io/project/19458-dlight-displays

Vixen 2.0 sequencer:
https://www.vixenlights.com/downloads/vixen-2-downloads/
 
MrDEB

Need 15 min of run time. 5 runs of 6 or 6 runs of 5 make no difference.

Each run would be about 10' of wire just to spread them out. Not sure of voltage drop over distance. This is all low amperage, so I don't imagine there is a lot of drop, but I am sure there is a calc for that.
 
I wouldn't worry about voltage drop over 10 feet of wire.
putting together a parts list will get back to you,
looking at your desired run times, etc.
 
Well, MrDeb took the lead on the project. At this point, I hace loose 3w led lights on my desk and should have the first board on the way. Once we confirm desired operation, the rest of the boards will be put together. I have a new prototype prop to build. The band director revealed the theme of the show, Magnetic. The props are designed to be compass needles, or a representation.
 
Mike I need an address to send one completed board. Will email you just in case you don't see this.
The board I have completed is ready for shipment but still working on 4 programs but may only end up with two??
Will try and take a pic of completed board for members to view.
 
I located my sim card for importing camera pics. I don't have and never wanted a smartass phone. Too expensive each month
here are two pics of same completed board. Yes It is a 40 pin dip socket pic. Makes it easier to make desired program changes in the future, Cheaper to ship 10 chips than 10 completed boards. Each board, according to my scale is 5.660 ounces or 160G
That doesn't look right but that's what the scale says.
 

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I am about to launch a product dedicated to this specifically for WiFi control of LED lighting solutions up to 5 A per LED string.
Each 2.75 " square weatherproof module runs on an IoT processor and delivers 8 monochrome channels of 8 to 16V, 5A switching for full PWM effects. Thus one module can drive 2 RGBW strings for full color gamut.
Sequencing of complex effects is done by the freeware Vixen 2.0 software sequencer, downloaded via USB to a master control and relayed via wifi to all addressed 8 Channel LED modules. The master controller (Wifi) triggers the sequences based on a battery backed RTC START/STOP timer or Photocell.

The system 'remembers' the vixen 2.0 sequence and is independent of a PC linkup. The modules use very low bandwidth protocols, custom developed for this app. They are designed to run up to 25 second sequences of up to 1600 LED instructions with persistence until different PWM instruction is required. The instructions are vector instructions which direct the PWM to a target value over a target time frame. 100mS time stepping.

Multiple Modules can be run standalone without Wifi and remain in decent sync over a few hours once they are powered up simultaneously.

There's a video of it in action lower down on this project page:
https://hackaday.io/project/19458-dlight-displays

Vixen 2.0 sequencer:
https://www.vixenlights.com/downloads/vixen-2-downloads/
Let me know when ready, I'll buy some and even do a free design review.
 
I hope this doesn't include a microcontroller but I'm afraid it does. This thread is a typical example of MrDEB's understanding of code. Sorry to say, I wouldn't trust him to change a light bulb.

Edit, sorry to be so negative.

Mike.
 
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