Lights to help aim

[apm4242]

Originally Posted by Coach Seb

Any guidance on using the Cree flashlight would be totally awesome... we do have a spike relay.... assuming that would be connected on the Relay port on the RIO and then a voltage regulator between the Spike and the light to get me to the right voltage should do right ? Any picture would be appreciated.

4242 used a setup like this at the CHS Greater DC District event with great success. Not only did it provide a bright focused beam for aiming at the low goal (we're a low goal shooter), but more importantly, it was actually bright enough to shine through the Sally Port and Drawbridge "wood" decals. Our driver was able to use it to square up to the defense without seeing the robot.

We used the following:
- LED Flashlight with zoom
- DC-DC Voltage Converter/Regulator
- Spike Relay

The LED flashlight had internal circuitry that allowed for 3 modes (high, low, flash). We only wanted the high setting so we took the circuit board out and wired the LED board directly to the voltage converter. This made wiring much easier as the LED board fit cleanly back inside the original housing. More conveniently, we used the metal clip on this flashlight as a mounting bracket by reversing it and drilling out the hole a bit. Next, we locked the flashlight in the zoomed position using a zip tie. Finally, we used a bunch of hot glue to secure the wires inside the area where the battery would go.

So, the full setup is how you described - Power Distribution Board > Spike Relay (with pwm wire connected to the Relay port on the RoboRIO) > Voltage Converter > Flashlight. FYI - We soldered all connections but lost power connection somewhere in our semifinal match during a BIG collision. We're still not sure what happened but we know it's the power because the relay still responds to the driver's commands.

Sorry I don't have any photos because the robot is currently bagged up. I can also provide screen shots of our labview code if anyone's interested.

[Coach Seb]

Thank you very much !!!! and yes LV screen shot would be totally awesome !

Thanks a bunch !

[Jonathan Ryan]

Team TRx 145 would love to see screen shots of the LabView code!!!!

Thanks

[apm4242]

I don't have the code with me right now but I'll post screen shots later tonight.

If you can't wait, it's very similar to Team 358's Labview examples except ours uses a button toggle with "Off" and "Forward" as relay inputs. Don't forget to initialize in Begin.vi and end in Finish.vi.

Team 358's site seems to be down for the moment but Mark McLeod posted a .doc file with everything in it - http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...1&d=1454513427

[apm4242]

See attached for LabView screen shots. A few notes -

Wiring the blue relay values to the selector was tricky. If someone knows a better way, feel free to correct this but here's what I did - right click on Relay Set and create a constant. Sever the connection between the new constant and the Relay Set. Connect the new constant to the Select and then wire the Select output to the Relay Set. Now the Select will accept and return blue values.

Selecting "On" and "Off" as the relay values did not work - the flashlight just quickly flashed and stayed off. We had to set it to "Forward" and "Off".

The Relay vi's are in the WPI Robotics Library > Actuators > Relay area.

The feedback nodes are finicky. Sometimes they don't turn green when wired to a Boolean on the first try and the arrows may need to be switched (right click). The button toggle code is straight out of Team 358's guide. I highly recommend it. It's the best.

[Coach Seb]

At my first attempt, the light was very bright and it look awesome. Then as soon as i remove power and re-apply the voltage, then it was very dimmed....

I figure i burn the LED or something like that so i proceeed to wire LED flashlight #2, and exactly same thing happen... at first it was bright and just like i want it, then, remove the voltage to the LED and reconnect and it turn on but was very light....

?Is there a cycle to reset or something weird I have to do?

[apm4242]

Originally Posted by Coach Seb

At my first attempt, the light was very bright and it look awesome. Then as soon as i remove power and re-apply the voltage, then it was very dimmed....

I figure i burn the LED or something like that so i proceeed to wire LED flashlight #2, and exactly same thing happen... at first it was bright and just like i want it, then, remove the voltage to the LED and reconnect and it turn on but was very light....

?Is there a cycle to reset or something weird I have to do?

Did you remove the round circuit board inside the flashlight? When functioning normally, there are 3 modes - high, low, flash. When you press the on/off button down half way, the mode switches and it remembers your last mode setting. The circuit board controls this function. It sounds like you might be simulating this by removing and reapplying the voltage.

[Coach Seb]

Yes, we removed the circuit board and solder the LED directly to the voltage converter.

Anybody experience this?

[apm4242]

Strange. We didn't see this. What flashlight and voltage converter are you using? Can you trace the source of the voltage drop with a multimeter to see if it's in the LED, relay, or spike? In other words, try checking if the LED is getting whatever the converter is supposed to put out