Microcontrolled Optical Fibre Illuminator---very interesting project!

[Vashist]

Design and build a Microcontrolled POF Illuminator capable of providing special lighting effects which are twinkling, change of colour, cool temperature, programmes special effects.

Consider the changer mechanism to incorporate the change of colour design
Consider power supply issues-5v?12v?15v?,
Consider light source issues- LED, HIL, HAL?
Consider cooling issues and temperature control,monitoring unit,
Incorporate facilities for special light effects - colour change(2-3 filters), dimming if possible
Consider the use of a microcontroller to control the operation of the illuminator and incorporate it into the illuminator.(this is not priority right now..the 4 basic part need to be setup first!

Any ideas would be great! firstly, which is the best light source to use? LED?

 

[blueroomelectronics]

LEDs are a good choice, sounds like a school assignment.

 

[Vashist]

actually its a third year final project for a BENg degree course!

 

[arhi]

Consider the changer mechanism to incorporate the change of colour design
Consider power supply issues-5v?12v?15v?,
Consider light source issues- LED, HIL, HAL?
Consider cooling issues and temperature control,monitoring unit,
Incorporate facilities for special light effects - colour change(2-3 filters), dimming if possible
Consider the use of a microcontroller to control the operation of the illuminator and incorporate it into the illuminator.(this is not priority right now..the 4 basic part need to be setup first!

If you go with RGB led's controlled with uC you solved most of your problems ... most of them will run on 5V, uC will run on 5V, you can easily get "all" colours to show up, to get different RGB values you need to PWM the the output on the uC. Depending on how many RGB led's you want to go (more led's -> more complex effects you can achieve) with you probably want to use darlington transistor array to drive the RGB led's (uln2803, uln2003, ulq2003...) ... The cooling part should be easy, the uC and DTA should not heat up significantly as you do not have to run the uC on the max clock and with 50mA that rgb led's will use DTA will not notice it .. on the other hand, you can always add a small cooler to the DTA if needed

you can also take a look at: https://www.electro-tech-online.com...led-program-for-any-18f-pic.39665/#post315819 for some examples, both on hw and sw part of the project

 

[Hero999]

It sounds a bit simple for a degree course, perhaps you should choose something more complicated.

I recommend using a high powered RGB LED. That way you don't need to worry about filters. A switched mode power supply is also a good idea, especially if you want to power many of them.
**broken link removed**

 

[Vashist]

It sounds a bit simple for a degree course, perhaps you should choose something more complicated.

I recommend using a high powered RGB LED. That way you don't need to worry about filters. A switched mode power supply is also a good idea, especially if you want to power many of them.
**broken link removed**

Actually, it is my End of year project for my BEng course.
its complicated in a way that I have four separate sections to design:
The light source circuitry, the stepper motor for filters circuitry, the temperature monitor and control circuitry, the Power supply unit
all of these have to be interfaced onto a microprocessor which has to be programmed to the standards of the POF illuminators of today. it fair enough to last for 8months, isnt it? october 2008 to april 2009?

now that you showed me there are independent LED which perform the job of the filter, it has in a way lightened the burden, ut well i have to have confirmation from my project supervisor!
but THANK YOU VERY MUCH forthat link.

I will keep you posted and as always..try and find solutions over here.

right now, i need to know which is the light source and i would go for the LED mentioned above
next step is to design circuitry for that and create a source from which the light goes in a straight direction into the POF, by using a lens or rod.

any other ideas on any of the parts woudl be really great.
thank you very much

 

[Hero999]

LEDs are more effiecient than halogen lamps so as long as you mount it on a good heatsink then you don't have to worry about the temperature rise.

RGB LEDs are just three LEDs in one package, a red, green and blue LED in one package.

 

[Vashist]

LEDs are more effiecient than halogen lamps so as long as you mount it on a good heatsink then you don't have to worry about the temperature rise.

RGB LEDs are just three LEDs in one package, a red, green and blue LED in one package.

I did some research and found that though LED is more practical, the intensity is lower as compared to halogen, but that doesnot matter much.
i am looking for circuits which will help me control the colour of the RGB LED, change in current, voltage to obtain the specific wavelength of light of a specific colour in a standard pattern, and which can be interfaced on a microcontroller. every dimming or colour change effect should be able to be controlled manually as well(using keypad and display).
so, the circuit for the RGB to create this effect?
I found out some info here:
**broken link removed** but its not that clear. help plz

 

[Cotowar]

Okay, first off let it be known I'm no pro at this stuff, but I am learning quite rapidly.

For the color changing, have you thought about basically making pixels? If you change the voltage on the primary colors, won't it change the intensity of the LED? If so, could you then just vary the colors according to preset schemes you have in the uC? Like I said before, I'm a noob, but I'm trying to help.

 

[Vashist]

Okay, first off let it be known I'm no pro at this stuff, but I am learning quite rapidly.

For the color changing, have you thought about basically making pixels? If you change the voltage on the primary colors, won't it change the intensity of the LED? If so, could you then just vary the colors according to preset schemes you have in the uC? Like I said before, I'm a noob, but I'm trying to help.

Im also a noob at this mate...:-(
u r rite,the intensity gonna decrease and the specification is a high intensity programmable illuminator with twinkle,diming effects.
i have one big noob question..what exactly is the uC? im trying hard 2 find it but in vain!

 

[Cotowar]

the "u" in uC is technically supposed to be the µ symbol. It stands for the word "Micro" and the "C" stands for the word "Controller". It took me a bit to figure it out, but uC is micro controller.

Yep, thats it.

 

[Vashist]

the "u" in uC is technically supposed to be the µ symbol. It stands for the word "Micro" and the "C" stands for the word "Controller". It took me a bit to figure it out, but uC is micro controller.

Yep, thats it.

OHHH..ok..thanks for that, i was getting crazy trying to find this out!

 

[Vashist]

LEDs are more effiecient than halogen lamps so as long as you mount it on a good heatsink then you don't have to worry about the temperature rise.

RGB LEDs are just three LEDs in one package, a red, green and blue LED in one package.

ohh..actually, light intensity is a very important aspect of the proejct..so halogen or metal halide is quite a potential and colour filters should be added to create the multiple colour effect.
this is just a possibility
I am currently comparing LED with halogen and metal halide, in terms of wattage, lumens/watt(intensity), voltage and current used, heat produced, temperature, pricing and then find the best one which suits the main 2 aspects: high intensity to light many fibres in a lit room, the light from the fibre has to overcome the background light largely'

please help if you know more about the metal halide, LED(which ones are the best to consider) and halogen.

thanks in advance