small superbright green LED panels?

[BitTwiddler]

We're in a space crunch situation this year. In the past we've used Superbright LED angel rings around our camera for target location. Because of the design of our robot there is not enough height available for a ring at the optimum location for a camera. We're looking for small rectangular (or square) panel LED assemblies to place on either side of the camera lens instead. I have not seen anything like that on the market. If we had printed circuit board development expertise we could probably make one but we don't.
Anybody know of a source of bright (around 200 Lumens) LED panels -in green color- that are around 2" high? If no commercial source exists does anybody have some ideas how we could make them?

[JR0405]

Buy a roll of adhesive backed led strips and stick them on a board(most can be cut to length and have jumper cables soldered to the end)

something like this

[billbo911]

You want small and bright? Wow, you want everything don't you?

Well, today is your lucky day! These little spots of sunshine will more than meet your desires. BTW, they are also available in red, blue, warm and cool white.
Partner those LEDs with this LED driver and you will not only be able to light up the target, you will also be able to do it on command!

Trust me on this, wear sunglasses when viewing them directly.

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by billbo911

You want small and bright? Wow, you want everything don't you?

Well, today is your lucky day! These little spots of sunshine will more than meet your desires. BTW, they are also available in red, blue, warm and cool white.
Partner those LEDs with this LED driver and you will not only be able to light up the target, you will also be able to do it on command!

Trust me on this, wear sunglasses when viewing them directly.

1678 hereby endorses this endorsement! We used these(or something very similar) last year to good effect.

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by billbo911

You want small and bright? Wow, you want everything don't you?

Well, today is your lucky day! These little spots of sunshine will more than meet your desires. BTW, they are also available in red, blue, warm and cool white.
Partner those LEDs with this LED driver and you will not only be able to light up the target, you will also be able to do it on command!

Trust me on this, wear sunglasses when viewing them directly.

Wow! just the ticket. The video made a believer out of me. Seriously cheap too. Thanks much.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by RoboChair

1678 hereby endorses this endorsement! We used these(or something very similar) last year to good effect.

Can confirm, these are the LED's we used in 2016. Pro tip, mount them to a piece of metal, or plan some other method of heat dissipation. We first had one mounted to a piece of plastic, and it burnt out pretty quick

-Mike

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Can confirm, these are the LED's we used in 2016. Pro tip, mount them to a piece of metal, or plan some other method of heat dissipation. We first had one mounted to a piece of plastic, and it burnt out pretty quick

-Mike

Thanks for the tip. What burnt out, the LED or the plastic?

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by BitTwiddler

Thanks for the tip. What burnt out, the LED or the plastic?

The LED. They need something with good thermal conductivity to keep pulling the heat out of them. But that can be as easy as mounting it against some aluminum.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by RoboChair

The LED. They need something with good thermal conductivity to keep pulling the heat out of them. But that can be as easy as mounting it against some aluminum.

If you really want to make certain to conduct the heat out, ad a dab of thermal compound.
These baby's get hot enough to make you think twice before touching them a second time!

[MrForbes]

Dave, we used the white version of those LEDs on our underwater ROV Babs. They work pretty well. Heat sink...we want a heat sink..but we have some aluminum we can use to make that.

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by RoboChair

The LED. They need something with good thermal conductivity to keep pulling the heat out of them. But that can be as easy as mounting it against some aluminum.

What did you use to mount it? As far as I can tell, they don't have any mounting holes per-se. Presumably you'd want something that is a good thermal conductor. I could see using bolts through the cutouts in the star, but I'd be worried about putting stress on the PCB that way. Or zip ties through the star loops and thermal paste between the PCB and the aluminum?

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by billbo911

If you really want to make certain to conduct the heat out, ad a dab of thermal compound.

I just want it on record that I think thermal paste is just about the messiest thing in existance. It's good at what it does, but it's also evil. Not even GoJo can get all of it off.

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

What did you use to mount it? As far as I can tell, they don't have any mounting holes per-se. Presumably you'd want something that is a good thermal conductor. I could see using bolts through the cutouts in the star, but I'd be worried about putting stress on the PCB that way. Or zip ties through the star loops and thermal paste between the PCB and the aluminum?

I think we used safety wire, but zip ties will work as well. Bolts would work fine as long as you torque them correctly(i.e. have someone that knows their bolts and doesn't have the desire to tighten till it cracks, back a quarter turn it).

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

What did you use to mount it? As far as I can tell, they don't have any mounting holes per-se. Presumably you'd want something that is a good thermal conductor. I could see using bolts through the cutouts in the star, but I'd be worried about putting stress on the PCB that way. Or zip ties through the star loops and thermal paste between the PCB and the aluminum?

Evan, we've used these LEDs in a couple configurations. If properly spaced, a pair of 4-40 screws works great. I would avoid using nylon screws as the nylon might melt. The "PCB" is actually aluminum. The LED sits on a flexible circuit board that is adhered to the aluminum sub-straight. Here's a couple pictures from my collection of these little guys. In the second image, you can see the aluminum back easily.

[MrForbes]

We used 4-40 screws with a nylon washer under it, and insluating material between the aluminum LED base, and the chunk of aluminum they are attached to. This is in Babs, aka Stanford in the movie Spare Parts.

[Coach Seb]

Can anyone explain how to connect the LED driver to the RoboRio?