[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by stoddard

How do you wire a flashlight to the robot, this is our second year and there is still a lot of new stuff for us to learn?

Did someone order cheesecake?

What you will need for just the flashlight.
A 12 volt flashlight
A spike relay.
To augment the flashlight so it has a more focused beam or less light showing overall you can use
Black electrical tape
A focusing lens (a lot of science departments at schools have these for various experiments)




We use this 12 volt flashlight wired to a spike relay. This flashlight is nice because it is one where the light can pivot and it really helps that we don't need to angle the entire thing in order to aim it properly. Earlier in the build season I also borrowed a focusing lens from the physics department at the school I mentor with (most science departments at schools do an occasional light activity and should have one otherwise they can be purchased through a ) and after measuring the optimal distance for placement of the lens had a student cad and 3D print something for a smaller flashlight to hold the lens at the correct distance. We reused that mount with zip ties and tape instead of cading a new one for the flashlight I posted above due to time constraints. Since the lens we have is smaller then the flashlight we used black electrical tape to reduce the amount of light that shines through hopefully reducing the chance of it being distracting. Wiring the flashlight was simple because it is done through the spike to the battery leads which gives you the ability to turn them on and off.

With the exception of the 3D printed mount (which in all fairness you can use any sort of material to mount the lens to the flashlight) everything is all COTS and takes minimum work to put together.

Cheese it up!