Thread: LED Spotlight Kits

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Hey All,

I'm thinking of producing some PCBs for LED spotlights, and wanted to gauge how much interest there would be for these guys in kit form (PCB + LEDs + resistors).

These would NOT be pinspot, aka superbright LED, level. Rather, these would be similar in brightness to incandescents or small PAR cans. Think like a bright flashlight.

Here's the idea I've got so far, for 3 different kits...

RGB kit
Brightness: TBD
LEDs: (3) 1W LEDs, running @ ~1/3W ea. (75-150mA ea LED)
Resistors: (1) 27 Ohm, (2) 20 Ohm. 1/2W ea.
Supply with: 5-6V, 500mA


UV Blacklight kit
Brightness: 120,000mCd
LEDs: (3) 0.5W LEDs, running @ ~1/3W ea (75-150mA total)
Resistors: (1) 20 Ohm 1/2W
Supply with: 12V, 200mA


White kit
Brightness: 1,170,000mCd
LEDs: (3) 1W LEDs, running @ 1W ea (150-300mA ea)
Resistors: (3) 3.3 Ohm 1W
Supply with: 12V, 1A




Here's what you could do with them, depending on your setup...

Static power supply
RGB - Could be set up to be Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, or Magenta, White. - one color, static
UV Blacklight - Static blacklight
White - Static white spotlight. Maybe for fog effects?

ON/OFF type controller - (must have high-current capability - e.g.: Prop-1 with 2803 outputs)
RGB - Could be set up to be Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, or Magenta, White. - any of the 7 colors, On/Off, flashing
UV Blacklight - On/Off, flashing blacklight
White - On/Off, Strobe

Medusa DMX
RGB - Dimmable 16.7M colors, On/Off, flashing any color, audio modulate (through VSA WaveMotion)
UV Blacklight - Dimmable, On/Off, flashing blacklight, audio modulate (through VSA WaveMotion)
White - Dimmable, On/Off, Strobe, audio modulate (through VSA WaveMotion)


These would be about 1.3" in diameter, and could be mounted in a PVC elbow (see my Pirate thread). Incidentally, these would be capable of a lot more light output than the one in the pirate video. Assembly would consist of soldering 3 biggish LEDs (10mm), 3 resistors, and (up to) 4 wires. I haven't purchased parts, but I think $15 each is a good estimate. I'm going to be making a prototype PCB in my kitchen in the next day or two, so I hope to have some photos later this week.

What do you guys think?
- Hook

I make my own but if you do these kits for others I would size them to fit into a PVC end cap and also allow to select different voltage levels for the lights.

See my blog: http://www.garageofevilnetwork.com/p...led-spot-light

I'm in, just post when you are done

Well of course I'd like the Medusa kit. I could put those unused Medusa LED terminals to work.

Okay, quick update... so, I hacked together a few PCBs tonight, and took some documentation photos.

Keep in mind - these are only prototypes - the actual PCBs would be from a factory.


On the PCB silkscreen, you can see capital R, G, and B. That's where the LEDs go, and where you hook the wire up for each. The center hole is for the common (+) lead. The lowercase r, g, and b are where the respective resistors go, and the big holes are for mounting. They'll pass a 4/40 screw. (Note: the PCB in the upper left is upside down)

The_Caretaker,
I finally signed up for GOE, and took a look at your blog. That's a nice setup you made! Nice dimmer circuit, too. This idea is a little different, though. These will still fit in small locations, but they'll be a lot higher power. Each 5mm standard superbright LED is good for ~70mW, but these 10mm LEDs are good for 500mW to 1000mW. These could get a little smaller, but it might more difficult to solder and mount to anything. Regarding your suggestion for a wider voltage range - that probably won't be in the scope of this project. I'm trying to keep these as 1) low cost, 2) easy to use, 3) small as possible, while still being large enough to work with. That said, if anyone wanted to buy the right resistor for their voltage, that would work too!

kryptkeeper & b'dude,
Glad to hear someone likes the idea. These things are a sight to behold, brightness-wise. I hope to be having some fun making demo videos soon! Oh - b'dude - there actually wouldn't be a Medusa-specific kit. There'd just be an RGB, a Blacklight, and a White (strobe) kit. The list I put together there was just to show what you could do with the LEDs, with a given application (DC supply vs. keybanger vs. Medusa DMX)

Oh yeah... one thing I forgot to mention - these are 40 degree beams.

- Hook

But you could use the Medusa for the 16.7m colors right? I'm not familiar with the term "keybanger", what is that?

Yes, with the RGB kit, the Medusa board would be able to make any color / fade any color.

Keybanger is what people call the standalone prop controllers that are programmed by real-time button pressing. You 'bang the key' when you want the monster to pop out, then it remembers the timing for playback on haunt night.

So... these type of controllers have on/off type outputs, which could be used to control these LED spotlights in on/off or discrete color modes.

- Hook

You can count me in. I need some for the Medusa board. Thanks again.

As promised, here's some samples of the brightness. I did my best to adjust the exposure so the photos appear the same brightness as my eye perceived these. However, the camera looks to be a little more sensitive to blue than I am.

The LED and camera (at 52mm eqiv) are next to each other. Here's the landmarks...
5.5' - Army of Darkness DVD
9' - Tide
20' - RockBand Guitar (low left)
22.5' - Lamp (high right)
31' - Blinds/Boogie Board

Red


Green


Blue


Red + Green = Yellow


Green + Blue = Cyan


Red + Blue = Magenta


Red + Green + Blue = White


- Hook

Wow those really do put out some light.
I am a electronical no nothing so would this be something I could put together without killing myself?