Future blade technology?

[Jedi Ranger]

I don't recall this topic ever coming up, so I'll start here.

I wonder where we'll go after LEDs (string/emitter) for glowing blades?

I wonder if the flexible LCD displays will ever be sufficient. Or, what about flexible OLED displays? These would allow for a more active light transmission.

Or, will lasers become the new format? They are doable now, but crazy expensive, and dangerous.

Here are a few links to check out, for now:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/flexible-oled-display-153252.php
http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=rollable

[xwingband]

The current LED display stuff we have isn't bright enough. Take an iPod or laptop outside... quite disappointing.

I can imagine the weird visual effect though. Tie dye blades! :D

I think lasers are never going to do anthing... you can't stop light. The transmission is instantaneous.

[987654321a]

light is like a freeway with alot of drivers. no matter what you do you cannot stop them.

[Ambo]

what about the Light Freeway Police?....they will at least stop those light particles that are lightspeeding.......*buh-dum......tsssssss.....*

[987654321a]

lol, yea but that would be the.........wait damnit i cant compare those to anything relating to light lol

[Marsupial]

the way I understand OLED sheets is more like electronics paper, I don't think it will ever be made for lighting solutions - the luxeon leds is intended for lighting solutions and we'll most likely get brighter and brighter.

Lasers aren't something you want to have for a blade because of the potential danger - there's one who diffuse green visible laser into a blade, but think about the problem if it goes to the eyes of someone? Luxeons are already dangerously bright ennough as it is, while being thick ennough.

There are led arrays (MR, Hyper) that exists, I'm thinking we could have more leds and brighter ones - the cost is power.

If future luxeons are brighter, again we should have a cost in power, and maybe heat. we could use other type of light sources - why not an halogen bulb or something similar? the reason we're going Luxeon is simple
1-coloration
2-size
3-power
4-heat

if we end up with 50W luxeon, think of the badass battery pack. Maybe future technology will make more compact power source, the Li-Ion packs are already quite smaller then the C batteries that was in virtually everything in the 70s.

One thing I realised with making my own sabers is that a part of the visual aspect of our hobby is the blade itself. The diffuser filter changes the aspect a huge lot - compare ultra's blades to corbin's to understand - tapered, extension FX, cored...
the Tip with its reflection base is also something that we need to look for - maybe an angled mirror to focus the light where we need it instead of a flat one?

I'm not sure we'll have lots of other lightsaber prop technology in the future, but I am certain our product WILL evolve...

since I started making luxeon sabers, the price of the luxeon I am using droped significantly, new ones have emerged, better lens, new blade filter, better tips, more knowledge in how to use them, drivers emerged and keep on being perfected...

what's with the future technology? unless it beats the crap out of my luxeon saber without damaging the experience, I'm not sure I'll change for it, but I'm always willing to try new stuff!!

[Dregan]

light is like a freeway with alot of drivers. no matter what you do you cannot stop them.

You have never driven I-5 in LA. Lotsa stopped drivers there...

:mrgreen:

[Novastar]

Regarding future blade technology, there are really two major areas:

1. The physical blade itself and the diffuser
2. The style in which you choose to light #1.

#1 -- Regarding the physical blade, I can see the following in the future (however expensive and/or not worth the expense for too little gain):

* Machining/lasering the "diffusion" inside the polytube itself, requiring no outside/extra material. This would also allow ALL sorts of combinations to be tried.

* Tips made of "spongey" silicone or rubber, affixed in a way that lends them to stay on better and absorb shock. Like a clear rubber boot.

* "Coning" the blade more in a very unique fashion that creates more of a true "conical blade" (instead of a tube). This may pose a problem diffusion and tip mirror-wise.

#2 -- As to lighting styles, the way in which things light up--many concerns:

* Brighter Luxeons/high-power LEDs. Remember though--it could someday get to a point where the saber is simply too bright to physically wield (although it would look great to an observer far off, say 10+ feet)... and the wielder would need sunglasses and/or tinted contact lenses. No joke!

* Lux Triad might actually have many ways to go, if we all start thinking in three dimensions...

* Improvements upon Hype/MR systems, which is not ideal for dueling, but still cool in its own way. Basically, super-charging MR LED array styles.

* Driver improvements. How the light is managed, in what way, what features are added, what is supported and what is not.

Other than that, there aren't many feasible options as of yet. It is possible that LCD and/or other forms of lighting could be feasible in the future... but right now, they really aren't.

Well... for duel-worthy to semi-duel-worthy blades.

[Lord Maul]

dang,i just had a crack dream :shock:
what if you put 3 5 watters into the tri lux, and had them all at full power! 15 watts of power :shock: :shock:

[Ryma Mara]

and a 30" hilt cause you ned a huge ass heatsink, a huge ass fan, and a huge ass battery pack.

[Novastar]

Maybe that's why he called it a crack dream, lol...

Although--with Li-Ion (and Li-Polymer especially) batteries and THEIR upgrades/innovations--in addition to the LED upgrades... I say...

Only a matter of time. :)

As it is, there already IS a VERY conceivable battery setup for 14.4v (effectively 15v).

4 Li-Ion, 3.6v, 2400Mah "18650" cells wired for the voltage. When placed in pairs, they will fit inside a 1.5" sink tube, and take up about 5.5".

I'm sure this is a feasible amount of juice to get within a fairly reasonable amount of space.

And chances are--it's just going to get better. I'm looking forward to seeing "less wide" lithium polymer battery setups. Right now, they're almost too wide to be of much use.

[Ryma Mara]

From what I understand yeah the Li-Ion will push alot of power for a small amount but dosent ahve that great of a run time. and to me runtime is more important, I dont care if its rechargable or not, and iam sure others feel that way too.

Iam sure they would rather have more fun playing and showing off or whatever it is that you do with our hobbie here. than waiting for them to recharge more often than needed.

But thats my oppinion take it with a grain of salt.

[jedi tom]

if we're talking future lightsaber blades hows abouts a REAL LIGHTSABER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! derrrr

[Ryma Mara]

Its been talked about and currently at out technological state noone here is gonna have the funding to actually try it and if they do there gonna want to keep it to them selves.

[Novastar]

From what I understand yeah the Li-Ion will push alot of power for a small amount but dosent ahve that great of a run time. and to me runtime is more important, I dont care if its rechargable or not, and iam sure others feel that way too.

Iam sure they would rather have more fun playing and showing off or whatever it is that you do with our hobbie here. than waiting for them to recharge more often than needed.

But thats my oppinion take it with a grain of salt.Ryma: Actually the run-time is just fine when you crunch the numbers. A SINGLE 3.6v 2400mah (18650 cell), which is effectively 4.2v initially... will get you about 2 hours and probably a bit more, but I'll be conservative of run-time.

I haven't fully tested run times, but I CAN say that my "Flange" saber, version 1, with FX board, 7.2v Li-Ion regulated to 5v (so, turning about 2+ volts into heat) running a K2...

...lasted 1 hour and 38 minutes on an initial NONSTOP test
...lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes on a second NONSTOP test

Nonstop means I never once shut it off. It got pretty hot hilt-wise, heheh. I kept triggering it during a car trip to prevent the FX board from timing out at 2 minutes (they do have that function). And remember, this was shunting about 2v+... into HEAT via the regulator. Because the FX board cannot handle 7.2v.

ANYhow. Li-Ions are also lighter weight than any other battery (lithium is the lightest metal in the periodic table), and are better for the environment... for those who care. I do.

Additionally, I think it is more "lightsabery" and future-like to HAVE a rechargeable saber... and it also doesn't limit WHERE you install your battery setup.

Also, Lithium Ion batteries pretty much maintain their voltage throughout a charge cycle, so you will not see (or hear) a "low battery". Granted, this is mainly because the PCB on the battery will cut out power to any device so that the Li-Ion cell is not discharged below something like 3v.

Finally, compartively--Li-Ion is in its INFANT stages. Alkaline has been around for years. So was EL for some time before high-powered LEDs came in to kick EL's arse. :)

So... in terms of real-time data and crunching numbers... Li-Ion is dandy fine.

Ryma, you may have been thinking Lithium 3.0v batteries, which are NOT the same as Lithium-Ion. Just as Lithium-polymer differs from Lithium Ion.

Lithium Polymer is often used in cell phones, laptops, etc.

You'll notice that most cell phones can last hours on stand-by... but about 2 to 3 hours on "talk" mode... :) About normal for handheld batteries.