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

[marshall]

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

https://amzn.com/B015OHXQAO

Or go big:

https://amzn.com/B00EVIIZC2

or just search:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...+led+spotlight

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by marshall

https://amzn.com/B015OHXQAO

Or go big:

https://amzn.com/B00EVIIZC2

or just search:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...+led+spotlight

Do you know that these are nice focused beams, or are you just guessing?

[marshall]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Do you know that these are nice focused beams, or are you just guessing?

Fair point. I don't know for certain but I suspect they are as focused as some of the lights I've seen teams use.

Were you able to use the flashlight linked with a battery with no inspection issues?

[AdamHeard]

We shotgun ordered a variety initially to get something that was reasonably light/small and also had a nice focused beam.

Originally Posted by marshall

Fair point. I don't know for certain but I suspect they are as focused as some of the lights I've seen teams use.

Were you able to use the flashlight linked with a battery with no issues?

It runs fine off a 3.3V regulator.

We initially did it on 0 lead time and were forced to do 5V regulator w/ two diodes in series to step voltage down. We ended up continuing all season this way because it was already installed on the robots.

We ended up going through a LOT of spares... not because they break, but because lots of teams at events start wanting them...

[marshall]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

We shotgun ordered a variety initially to get something that was reasonably light/small and also had a nice focused beam.



It runs fine off a 3.3V regulator.

We initially did it on 0 lead time and were forced to do 5V regulator w/ two diodes in series to step voltage down. We ended up continuing all season this way because it was already installed on the robots.

We ended up going through a LOT of spares... not because they break, but because lots of teams at events start wanting them...

Good to know. Good link to have handy.

[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.

[rsisk]

Originally Posted by marshall

Fair point. I don't know for certain but I suspect they are as focused as some of the lights I've seen teams use.

Were you able to use the flashlight linked with a battery with no inspection issues?

I inspected their robot at Ventura and saw no problems with the light.

[Michael Hill]

We used these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00O8...6_ SY340_QL65

The only difficulty was getting power to it. We rigged up a "mock battery" with a regulator and some (I think) delrin.

[otherguy]

We used a CREE flashlight similar to what Adam linked. A little smaller from the sounds of it. Ran off a single AA in the stock configuration.
2pk for $8 w/ prime shipping: http://goo.gl/ptnOUi

Ours was wired through a spike so we could turn it off as it could interfere with our cameras detection of the goal.
This means 12vdc going to the flashlight coming off the PDB.

To get down to the 1.5vdc needed by the light, we used a tiny little buck regulator. They are adjustable and $10 for qty 5 on Amazon with prime shipping.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014Y3OT6Y/

You can get them off eBay for cheaper but you'll be waiting 3-5 weeks for delivery.

The cool thing is that the regulator board is small enough to fit in the area the battery formerly occupied. So packaging was real clean. These will work to step 12vdc down to whatever your flashlight needs.

A note of caution. Some of the metal body flashlights out there have their case shorted to ground. So keep an eye on how things are mounted to ensure isolation from the chassis. A hose clamp with rubber gasket worked great for us.