LED flashers

[Matt Reiland]

Actually, the lights do double duty as diagnostic indicators for the IFI field manager. He showed me the sheet at West MI that showed about 10 different problems that are reported be the LED's during setup that you simply could not do with the rotating light. Maybe someone will come up with a nice little light stack design on a post or something.

[Adam Y.]

Light Advantages:
More robust (If the LEDs are not shielded they pretty much explode on any sort of impact)
Brighter

I'll agree with the robustness but not with the brightness. LED's are slowly replacing the light bulb because of their brightness. I have noticed that a lot of stop lights on Long Island use LED's. I can actually see the individual LED's when I drive by. Also, there has to be a compromise. You don't want to blind the people working the robot. I wonder if there is a differnce in the power consumption between the LED's and the revolving light.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

I can actually see the individual LED's when I drive by.

They've got those here too and I too can make out the individual LEDs. But I bet you if it was only 1 individual LED up there you wouldn't see a thing. Plus, each individual one in those is larger and brighter than in ours and they have a better lense.

[team222badbrad]

I like the LEDS they gave us this year. They could made much better though. I thought I read somewhere that they made these last minute but they now have plenty of time for improvement!

They could be made more robust. They also could be made easier to mount. They could also be a little brighter.

We came up with a LED tower at the last minute. all 4 LEDS are mounted on a 1 by 1 piece of aluminum tubing. We also took a whole lot of weight off by cutting nearly 75% off those 4 foot long wires

We did break one lens cover when our bot flipped (got the zip ties out)

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by Billfred

hmm...2v2 that becomes a new 2v2 midway.

I could see the potential for disaster...but if you applied the idea to FIRST Frenzy, it'd be kinda interesting to see the strategies. Maybe next year.

Ehh, I don't know how interesting it would be. Stationary goals would become useless. Your human player can't hit the opposite side of the field's stationary goal. You couldn't use the mobile goal because your color might change. Your only options would be to sit for a minute or hang.

I think there will have to be a lot of thought put into a game where the alliances change mid-way

[HFSbF5]

I think that the LED's were a good change. They definitely saved weight, although you could save more if the cables were only about 6" long to start with, then you could use extensions if needed (4' is excessive).

The LED's definitely need to be brighter, but that gets to be tough in SMT LED's. 5mm LED's can be so bright that they blind you, so you would have to use something to diffuse them or use diffused LED's (the lens assembly would probably do the trick, just as in the flashers that certain teams have as souvenirs). (We could use 2 Luxeon LED's behind the lens and that would definitely do the trick!)

They definitely take less energy to power, probably ~200 ma in a short pulse rather than an amp or so constantly for the revolving light (I think that's what it took).

It would be good to have the LED's flash more all the time, because that would make them seem brighter.

It would also be easier to mount if it was designed to be like a rotating light--an all-in-one, cylindrical unit that only has one set of wires.

[Spaztik Duck]

I'm new to robotics this year so I dont have experience first-hand with the old lights, however personally I thought the LED flashers served no purpose but as non-functional decorations. They were hard to see and the covers kept comming off. However, I do agree that they are a step in the right direction. They are smaller than the old lights and thats important.

*audrey*

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by HFSbF5

It would also be easier to mount if it was designed to be like a rotating light--an all-in-one, cylindrical unit that only has one set of wires.

That's the beauty of the new lights. You are very flexible in your options for placement. Don't have a lot of room? Add one to each side with double sided tape. Have room and weight? Make a heavy duty holder out of aluminum and lexan.

With a little more power these things will be perfect. Kudos IFI

[ahecht]

What I would like to see is the lights stay full on, with no blinking, if the robot is disabled and connected to the field controller. That way, it is easy to tell which team is which at the end of a match.

In the matches I watched, the state of the LED after matches seemed to be random -- sometimes on, sometimes off, sometimes both colors on.

[Danakona]

Just a note to all teams. If you have contact cement then a small amount on the rim of the cover will hold on the covers very well. Good luck in Atlanta, see you there.

[DarkJedi613]

I thought the LEDs were much, much better than the rotating light (especially after the big deal last year about how you have to mount the rotating light, how much has to be visible, can it be hidden for a time, etc.). Personally I don't even use the lights to tell whos on what alliance during matches - unless I walk in during the middle of a match, but I didn't think the LEDs are too hard to see (unless you're watching through a camera).

I'd say stick with the LEDs next year, but making them brighter maybe, and change the blink pattern (maybe not blink at all?).

[ric2006]

Ithink that the LED flashers are cool, but our team tried to hard to make them look cool (placement). Theyt are much less cumbersome than the gig one though

[dez250]

Originally Posted by ahecht

In the matches I watched, the state of the LED after matches seemed to be random -- sometimes on, sometimes off, sometimes both colors on.

This is due to teams removing their controller/OI from the station. That will cause them to go random and sparatic, but if the OI is left plugged in, then the proprer color will be displayed and also the proper blink pattern will be displayed.

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by dez250

This is due to teams removing their controller/OI from the station. That will cause them to go random and sparatic, but if the OI is left plugged in, then the proprer color will be displayed and also the proper blink pattern will be displayed.

Maybe a suggestion for IFI's firmware department:

1. Reset team color
2. Recieve channel number (color)
3. Run match as normal
4. At the conclusion of the match, continue blinking the light at the last known color. Perhaps even at a different rate. Continue blinking this color until an RC reset.

[ejthe4th]

I really like the new LED lights this year. While on the field during competition, I could make out the colors fine. When I was "forced" to watch the webcasts of the competitions I couldn't attend, I found it hard to tell the colors of the teams. IFI did do a great job w/ the LEDs this year. In the future, I think I’d like the lights to be more solid while competing on the field, and blinking at a certain rate (like they do now, acting as a diagnostic tool) when not in communication w/ the OI or something.