simplified PLI

[erv]

Hi ! I don't know if it's the right place for that... not cutting edge technology, not really new neither but...

I'm just finishing a single LED PLI. It follows a general idea that a hilt is often crowded and it's not so easy to implement a PLI with 7 or even 10 LEDs with simple tools while a little bezel (3 or 5 mm) is just as easy as drilling a hole in the hilt with a drilling machine.
I've therefore ported my PLI design, with the low and high treshold setup and memorization on a tiny board (22x17mm) using a bicolor LED (red and green, plus yellow/orange when activating both).
Using a smart combination of static color / blinking colors, I display 6 different steps on the scale of the PLI.
- green static (fully charged)
- green + little flash
- orange static
- orange + little flash
- red static
- red flashing fast (time to recharge).

simplified setup for the threholds, but I still have to work on that to properly separate the setup of the hi and low tresholds, for users that don't have access to a lab PSU (maybe I'll stay with the current procedure of my 7 led PLI).

Like the 7 LED PLI, it has a remote wire so that you can activate it from a crystal focus, but it can be also powered by a momentary button in serie with the + lead. Pressing the button powers the module, gives out the power level, releasing the button totally cuts the power of the module.

I'll soon propose this a a product, I think, and I'll be glad to share your thoughts about that !

Erv'

[Madcow]

That's what I'm talkig about!!!
Sounds sweet Erv. Keep us posted. I'd love to implement this in my Qui-Gon hilt if it's part of v.2.5

MC

[erv]

Sure !
it might be more effective that the on board CF low power indicator. Current based, it only "knows" when there is not enough juice... nice indicator except that it comes kind of late (well the progressive flashing speed let you know early enought I guess). However, a voltage based indicator, with accurate thresholds, with 6 steps, is pretty nice to know.... how things are going in your crystal chamber !!
Erv'

[Novastar]

I don't want to be negative or weird, but I will say that I never have understood about low battery LEDs... except for the "visual fun"...

1. If a saber is on Alkaline or NiMh/NiCad... you will know when the batteries are low... it will visually look dim! :)

2. If a saber is on Li-Ions... you will usually get a more consistent brightness, but when the batteries are about to pass the @3.2v threshold... the PCB will stop everything and cut it off.

3. What is the point of knowing your batteries are low if you will simply swap out the AAs in a few seconds... or have to wait several hours to recharge NiMh, NiCad or Li-Ion?

4. Even for staged combat--if the batteries are about to die on a saber... I can't stop the performance to change them out, lol. :) Also, I don't know of any staged LED saber performance where the need of a saber was for 1+ hour(s) of constant "on" time. Even in BOP III, no saber will be "constantly on" for more than about 20-30 minutes I'd say. Maximum.

So... I am not attacking anyone, I'm just saying... I don't get it. Am I missing something? I tend to keep my batteries charged if they are my rechargeables. If it's the Alkalines, I just wait until the FX conversions (3AA Alkaline) start acting crazy wack funky... and swap out the batteries in like 15 seconds.

Am I NUTS? :D

[acerocket]

No, you are weird. It's not about the battery level at all. It's all about the ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh factor. Just another cool thing to have that lights up on the side of the saber. I like the idea. Much less obtrusive than a long bargraph of LEDs. I may have to get one when they are available.

[xwingband]

No, you are weird. It's not about the battery level at all. It's all about the ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh factor. Just another cool thing to have that lights up on the side of the saber. I like the idea. Much less obtrusive than a long bargraph of LEDs. I may have to get one when they are available.

This.

Sometimes it's all about the bling. 8) Someday I want to use one of those bargraphs Parks and some prequel sabers use to simply make it purdy.

[erv]

for those who have watch my silly "iSaber" video on you tube : "there is a thin line between a gadget and collector must-have"....
but I have to moderate a little bit all that.
- 1 : Novastar is the kind of organized person. Rehersals, management, props building, physical training. He knows when to recharge sabers and does not forget to put it on charge after a 2 hours sessions so that it's ready for the next day. Specific use by a meticular person.

- 2 : what the hell a cell phone would be without a PLI/BLI. OMG, once again, this f*ù$£g phone is again down... and only when you want to call someone... or 911.

- 3 : the ooohhhh factor. I like that denomination :lol: I'm not such a sophisticated person, I don't care about my hair, but sometimes, yeah, I confess... I like that little something I own that makes me different. And it blinks ? yeah... coool !!!!
It's also about the history of sabers... artifacts with a crystal inside, energy is stored etc... it's kind of cool to "measure" if the saber is ready to strike or not. I think I remember that a lightsaber is supposed to recharge itself and cast last virtually forever if you don't mess with it (like spending 4 days trying to cut and slice a whole intergalactic ship for instance). So, I'd say it a nice thing to put on a saber if you like it.

- 4 : alkaline / ni-mh / li-ion => you know when they are down. I have to disagree on that. I define autonomy of the saber as the duration during which a constant current is applied to the luxeon. It's very hard to know when the current is not nominal. True, the blade will become dimmer, but hard to know where the boundary is. For a white/green/blue/cyan LED, the forward voltage is > 3.3 therefore > to the CF board voltage. The blade will start to be dimmer BEFORE the board starts behaving strangely. The low power blinking LED of CF is usefull in this case.
Not the case with red lux, with 2.85V of foward voltage, you start having a strange behavior of the blade before the blade gets dimmer.

- li-ion cells : with a 7.4V (2 cell pack), the pack will cut at like 5V or so. The current at that moment is still the nominal one cause the voltage of the pack is still > to the LED. You take your saber, power it on, the pack is at 5.2V, it seems to be fine. You put it in the bag, start having some fun with it at the event and it's out in 5 minutes (and your friends call you silly bastard, why didn't you charge the saber before coming).

so.... a PLI is usefull for someone who's putting the saber on a stand or on the shelf and wonders if there is still some juice in it. Some one might say : "don't bother with that, charge it anyway !". Not a good idea. Monitoring the delta peak on a nimh pack works well if the batteries are discharged under 80%. It's a bad bad bad idea to fast charge a nimh pack if you have more than 80% of capacity in them.
For the li-ion, it's slightly different, it's well protected, but anyway....

I hope I've "federated" different point of views and opinions !
Erv'

[Barmic Rin]

Sounds cool Erv. Put me down for those!
If you can churn afew out by CE, i'll grab them from you with a cupla Crystal cores.
I just hope those of us that are going won't have to pay you 'convention prices' for your goods!!! :wink:

[Madcow]

I agree with X-wing and Ace.
For 7 years I have been trying to make lightsabers that I can "pretend" are real. In other words... the knobs and buttons actually do something. I've even given some thought to building them with weatherproofing in mind. This is deeper than just the LCF (look cool factor).
So for me - a PLI, or some kind of indicator is a great way to deepen the fantasy. I think there's a little boy in all of us who is just waiting for the Falcon to land in our backyard, and invite us on an adventure - I want to just grab my lightsaber and go.

MC

[pockets]

if the falcon landed in my back yard i'd be embarrassed to grab my LED saber... they have real ones :(.

[Jetsi]

If the Falcon landed in my backyard, I would leave the LED saber, grab a real one from onboard, and then tell Han that he's in my seat. :P

[Novastar]

For the record, I'm GLAD to be "wrong" on this point, hahahaha.

And besides, you all know that I like the "bling" too... and no I am not knocking anyone's ideas! Erv knows this better than anyone. I guess I can certainly say that at least the single LED is much less obtrusive than the "line" of them, echoing Ace's thoughts.

Hmm... maybe ONE day an LED "array" or bargraph won't have to take so darn much space!

[Marsupial]

Nova I think your opinion was well voiced and didn't see that as being obstrusive to the whole concept.

Erv, when I'm done moving, I'll have to get this with the v2.5... I also have to get an activation matrix box to put a switch and 1-led PLI.
I'm thinkint 1 in-sync with the blade, and 1 pli. This should be perfect for the 2 arrows in the Luke EP-6 matrix. I think I'll get one of those.

[Novastar]

What the heck is an activation matrix? Sounds cool... a new kind of switch? Or a fancy one?

[Hasid Lafre]

Like an activation plate with a power conduit box on it.

[Marsupial]

4th answer of google image search for Activation Matrix:

http://www.starwars-tw.com/replica/saber/mr/obiwan-new/RIMG0036.jpg

[Novastar]

Oh, right right... the calculator bubbles.

I thought it might have been an ACTUAL switch that did something... je suis desole'.... :)

[Steeljack]

Nice work, as always, Erv.

I've been meaning to try something similar with my ongoing MR Darth Maul conversion. (The Maul has two little resin domes to the right of each half-hilt that I strongly suspect were intended to stand in for real LEDs to begin with. They have exactly the right shape, and they're 5 millimeters in diameter.)

They domes on the shipping saber are completely inert, but they turn out to be not too hard to drill out, either. (Moo hoo ha ha.) Now all I have to do is pick and program a microcontroller to drive the actual LEDs I'm going to replace them with.

Incidentally, if you want to have the whole palette of colors at your disposal, the good folks at Super Bright LEDs (http://www.superbrightleds.com/) will be happy to sell you some 5mm tri-color LEDs (http://www.superbrightleds.com/TriColor%20LED.htm), with your choice of common cathode or anode, and diffuse or water clear finish.

(I hope that posting a link to the above vendor is kosher, since it's with respect to a product Tim doesn't currently sell.)

[LAN-ED-TUL]

is there room in there to rig leds and the batt pack and switch/controller to run them?

its interesting idea. i still have to convert my maul yet. so busy getting the vader and jedi costumes all done. and it'll be after october before i can get the parts im betting.

[Hasid Lafre]

Hey erv any news on if this is gonna work out as a viable product? I would be very intrested in one on my next saber.

[erv]

the simplified PLI + a bicolor 5 mm LED will perfectly fit a maul I'm sure ! And the board is so small that it can be sent anywhere in the saber, in a bit of heatshrink.

Hasid : no more news on this PLI for the moment, cause I need to make the final PCB, and put it in real situation (in a saber). I'll soon be in vacations, but I have to assemble the next batch of crystal focus, make 3 sabers and build a blaster version of my board... plus a few things to work out in the house... but I promise, this is going to be a product, days are just no long enough :lol:

oh, by the way, talking about the activation matrix, my next saber (to be sold, be ready) will have a graflex clamp with a bargraph under. This is an unmodified clamp, not the one like it can be seen on ebay with the LED blinking circuit. It will have the same pattern than on telum infensus, 2 progressive LEDs, and the 4 blinking LEDs.
More news soon, in the gallery probably !

Erv'

[yattle]

Tim now has a battery indicator in stock. I believe there is a wiring suggestion somewhere in a post...it would be nice here because it is not the same as ErV's wiring sugestion.
Anyone with wiring exoertise for Tim's PLI?
yattle

[erv]

please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the PLI is known as "corbin's PLI", a 10 LEDs bargraph that acts as a voltmeter scaled on a selectable range (2 switches, 2 bits, 4 ranges).
Wiring is as simple as connecting the 2 wires to the battery pack, eventually thru as momentary switch to get the battery state from times to times.
Note : it could be remoted controled and tied to crystal focus using my power extender that I'm going to sell very soon (it's there, it's just that I have no time to put it online)