High Powered Targeting light on amazon

[dirtbikerxz]

I know that andymark started offering the targeting "photon cannon", but what is a similar alternative, that is just as powerful, on amazon (with prime shipping)?

Thanks

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I know that andymark started offering the targeting "photon cannon", but what is a similar alternative, that is just as powerful, on amazon (with prime shipping)?

Thanks

This is what we (and many others) used;
https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Fl...rds=flashlight

[AlexanderLuke]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

This is what we (and many others) used;
https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Fl...rds=flashlight

Did you guys run this particular model of flashlight all season?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by AlexanderLuke

Did you guys run this particular model of flashlight all season?

Yup, no change throughout the season.

[messer5740]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

This is what we (and many others) used;
https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Fl...rds=flashlight

How do you connect the flashlight to the RIO so that you can toggle the on/off of the flashlight?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by messer5740

How do you connect the flashlight to the RIO so that you can toggle the on/off of the flashlight?

We didn't. It could have been done with a spike, or a custom circuit. Potentially off the PCM as well, unsure what the true current rating of that is and I heard some teams switched loads that large from it.

[Jeremy Germita]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

We didn't. It could have been done with a spike, or a custom circuit. Potentially off the PCM as well, unsure what the true current rating of that is and I heard some teams switched loads that large from it.

We ran the exact same flashlight through a 3.3v regulator from the PCM with no problems all season.

[tjwolter]

OK, ridiculously basic question here but bear with a mentor for a soon to be second year team. I can see how these light sources would work well in tele op, just pick up the reflective tape around your target and pull the trigger. Are they also being used significantly in autonomous?

T Wolter

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by tjwolter

OK, ridiculously basic question here but bear with a mentor for a soon to be second year team. I can see how these light sources would work well in tele op, just pick up the reflective tape around your target and pull the trigger. Are they also being used significantly in autonomous?

T Wolter

Generally, humans aligning a flashlight are faster than camera tracking, so teams that use both rely on the flashlight in teleop. In auton, you generally have the time you need to get a camera tracked shot dialed in anyway, and you don't have a choice in the matter since it's autonomous, so cameras are used there.

[wilsonmw04]

I would strongly encourage everyone who uses a photon cannon to be able to turn it off in game. A spike works really well for this. As we went through the season, the flashlight got more and more scrutiny. Being able to tell the inspector that it was only active during alignment got us through more than one inspection. I was told if it was constantly on it would have been deemed "unsafe" and we would not pass inspection.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

I would strongly encourage everyone who uses a photon cannon to be able to turn it off in game. A spike works really well for this. As we went through the season, the flashlight got more and more scrutiny. Being able to tell the inspector that it was only active during alignment got us through more than one inspection. I was told if it was constantly on it would have been deemed "unsafe" and we would not pass inspection.

As I told a lot of teams, if another team or ref complains about you temporarily blinding them, then it will have to come off.

I have had to talk to a few teams about that complaint, and one where the light may have changed the outcome of a match in 2013 due to blinding an entire operators station. In that case, if the robot hung pointed towards the opposite alliance, its light would cause so much glare on the center drivers panel that you could not see through it. I also had complaints from a couple refs. This lead to me requesting the team turn it off for that event.
**************************************************

In auto, some teams will use colored lights or a colored filter to cause a different color of light to be reflected from the retro-reflective tape on targets. This allows for them to more easily differentiate from the reflective light on the tape and potential background lights.

[ahartnet]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

I would strongly encourage everyone who uses a photon cannon to be able to turn it off in game. A spike works really well for this. As we went through the season, the flashlight got more and more scrutiny. Being able to tell the inspector that it was only active during alignment got us through more than one inspection. I was told if it was constantly on it would have been deemed "unsafe" and we would not pass inspection.

Anyone have a pike replacement? I haven't been able to find a place to purchase any.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by ahartnet

Anyone have a pike replacement? I haven't been able to find a place to purchase any.

Someone earlier mentioned the PCM but there is no direct replacement as of yet that I'm aware of.

I will also mention this widget:

http://www.ctr-electronics.com/gadge...er-module.html

Combined with this widget:

http://www.ctr-electronics.com/hro.html

Would make for a decent spike replacement. Keep in mind that for the price of those two you're getting 6 spikes, and they are a lot smaller and weigh less. Will require some coding though.

I am not making any statements as to how you have to wire that in to make it work per FRC rules though...

[ahartnet]

Thanks. I've seen the hero but hasn't considered looking at it to possibly replace the spike.

We used the pcm for our led ring light. I think they could do something like 500 ma split across all outputs.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by marshall

Someone earlier mentioned the PCM but there is no direct replacement as of yet that I'm aware of.

I will also mention this widget:

http://www.ctr-electronics.com/gadge...er-module.html

Combined with this widget:

http://www.ctr-electronics.com/hro.html

Would make for a decent spike replacement. Keep in mind that for the price of those two you're getting 6 spikes, and they are a lot smaller and weigh less. Will require some coding though.

I am not making any statements as to how you have to wire that in to make it work per FRC rules though...

whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I don't understand.

Why not just drive the first device off of the roborio directly? It's just digital outputs driving it.

You would have to hack together a connection from roborio > Hero anyway, why not take a gadgeteer cable (which is the same as a talon encoder cable) cut one end off and put .1 connectors on it to hook to the digital out on roborio?