Hasbro color changing lightsaber

[dgregory]

Just saw these in the store today. Has anyone tried them out? It has a string blade with two-color leds (blue and red), and two switches. The main switch does power on (press and release), changes the blade color (press and hold), and power off (press and release). The other is a three position slide switch that changes from demo mode to normal operation, but it also has an off setting.

It flashes to the other color on clash. And it seems to have different sound fonts depending on blade color.

Also, unlike the 2010 hasbros, this one comes apart with no cutting, just a screwdriver. I'll post pics of the internals later.

[dgregory]

Here's the internal setup of the saber. Cheapo components as usual. The speaker is within a separate housing that is screwed together. There are two switches on the pcb that was under the bubble strip. They are wired together so either one works.




Here's a diagram of how it's wired.


Here's how the leds are wired up. This is the front of the card with the beginning of the string blade. I tried to outline the traces with a pencil as they are hard to see. The A and B are wired to the + and - clash sensor leads. I'm guessing this is the hard wired FoC setup? The two labeled "VSS" are wired to the ground for all the 5 mm leds in the string. Then there are two leads each for the red and blue, all wired to the positive leads. I presume those are the positive led connections for the demo and normal modes. Of these three pairs of leads (blue, red, and ground), I don't know which is for the demo and which is for the normal. I figure that out tomorrow with the multimeter.


Here's the bottom of the sound card. There's a clash sensor (green) and a swing sensor (large black one on the left). The other black component is a capacitor.

[FenderBender]

Heh...more proof that they are 'watching' what we do, and taking what they deem will 'sell'

[dgregory]

Small update. The FoC doesn't swap colors. It just flickers.

In normal and demo modes, both blue + leads are live (3.9 V). Only the forward red + lead seems to have power in either mode (3.5 V). Not sure what tehe other one is for.

The sound fonts seem to be Anakin ROTS and Vader ANH. Vader is breathing in the background on the first loop of the red hum then it stops.

One thing i noticed is that the swing sensor seems much more responsive than the 2010 hasbros. Its a pretty large ball sensor and is mounted much farther forward just behind the blade. Clash works a little better too, but its probably just because its not glued to the board like before.

[Cervelo R3sl]

Great diagram. Can I get rid of switch 4 by cutting all the wires and connecting the white and orange wire together for just normal operation? I am using the parts for my own scrap box build but don't need the 3 position switch. Thanks.

[kweaver919]

I gutted one of these for a PVC build. I made some modifications to the original set up including upgrading the wiring (the existing wiring is just too fragile) with 22 gauge. I tried to remove the 3-position switch from the circuit but there are components on the PCB that I could not work around. I kept the switch, secured it in the full "on" position with a drop of hot glue, and stuffed it inside with the rest. My handle is a bit longer than typical (14"?) but it fit okay. I replaced the battery case with a 3-AAA set up from a LED flashlight that fit nicely. I replaced the LED strip with a Luxeon I LED and added a micro-puck driver connected to both the blue and red connections on the main board, so it lit up regardless. I replaced the on/off switch. I relocated the FOC sensor to the main board as well. The sound defaulted to the Anakin font so no Vader breathing. For a board from a Walmart clearance bin saber, in a PVC handle, in a first-timer built saber, it works surprisingly well. Now I have the bug...

[Spiritchaser]

Would anyone know how much current can be driven through this board?

My kids have a couple of badly damaged color changing sabers like these and I'd like to rework them. I'd take a tri cree Red/blue/blue and wire the red to red and the pair of blues to blue... But depending on how I resistor the blues that could be as much as 2 Amps. Does anyone have a guess if the board could take that?


Any suggestions appreciated