school project and i need your help

[munga]

hi, and thank you for reading this. so basically we have a light bar but we want the lights to rotate, there is a raw diagram below.
i would like to know if anyone has an idea on how to connect the lights so that they work in synch. and any recommendations for the motors?

i updated the wiring scheme, its simple but i think thats it.

please any other suggestions email me at osegura**broken link removed**

 

[audioguru]

You want a mechanical drive to move the lights. It isn't electronic but a controller for all the motors could be electronic. First design the mechanical drive.

What do you mean when you say you want the lights to work in synch? In synch with what?

 

[HiTech]

I think he wants all the lights to rotate exactly the same time to each other... they rotate as a snchronized group, rather than each one on it's own. That might be difficult to do if each light has its own motor but a geared array driven by a single motor could do it. That's whats done in Stroeger type switches used in pinball machines, old style movie marquees, etc.

But what he needs to realize is that if it's attention he needs to draw from people viewing the array of lamps, it's way better to have each lamp rotate individually. Emergency vehicles use that principle for a reason and it works far better than a bunch of lights all revolving in sync.

 

[penoy_balut]

hi, and thank you for reading this. so basically we have a light bar but we want the lights to rotate, there is a raw diagram below.
i would like to know if anyone has an idea on how to connect the lights so that they work in synch. and any recommendations for the motors?

please any other suggestions email me at osegura

if you want to sync the motors, connect them in parallel and use stepper motors

 

[munga]

But what he needs to realize is that if it's attention he needs to draw from people viewing the array of lamps, it's way better to have each lamp rotate individually. Emergency vehicles use that principle for a reason and it works far better than a bunch of lights all revolving in sync.

well, im not trying to draw attention. this is an accesory to a truck for out doors people.

 

[HiTech]

I'm curious on what your use is for this specific project. You mentioned aa a truck accessory, but I'm trying to envision why the need to rotate all lamps simultaneously to begin with?

 

[munga]

its just a cooler light bar. thanks for the help but now we got everything figured out.

 

[HiTech]

Well now, that certainly was an easy one for us here; now all that remains is for us to figure out what the hell a "cooler lightbar" is!

 

[munga]

well, its just outta the norm. regular light bars just sit there, ours is gonna have moving lights, and the very middle one will be an accessory pod which will be able to connect a speaker, camera, or another light.

 

[audioguru]

A bunch a school kids drive a pickup truck out to the desert at night and drink beer.
When they get drunk enough then they turn on the spinning lights and think they look cool.
BORING!

 

[HiTech]

Hmmm, sounds like a party vehicle with a self-identifying feature to make it easy for the police to find you guys!! Maybe you should paint the vehicle desert cammo, use infrared lamps instead, ultrasonic audio, and pour the real brew into empty, non-alcoholic beer cans!! Just don't litter the place with your beer cans... nothing worse that a dirty desert!

 

[Andy1845c]

Are you looking to make the lights spin like the rotors in a police car lightbar, or are you looking to pan them so you can direct the light to the left or right of the truck? Either way, seems like they would be to fragile for real world use, unless you can encase all the moving parts somehow.
Neat project idea though, good luck with it Post some pictures when you get it done!

 

[HiTech]

two methods:
rotate the reflector with the lamp fixed in place
rotate the lamp module

rotating the reflector is the easiest and purely mechanical and also bright provided the reflector is a quality polished one.

rotating the lamp requires slip rings or brushes to carry the voltage to the lamp's filament. Also requires hash filtering to reduce RFI on radios and sensitive on-board electronics.

Rotating Reflector ------- Rotating lamp module
**broken link removed** ------- **broken link removed**