LED flashers

[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.

[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?).

[Ali Ahmed]

True. When watching machtes you couldn't really tell which bot was on what alliance which made scoring difficult. What we did is we CNC'd a light mount. It workes pretty good. I'll try and upload a pic.

[Adam Y.]

In all honesty if you really were superbright leds then no one would have any problems seeing them.

[Bduggan04]

I thought the lights were pretty stupid. As much as I hated mounting the dome light, it was still much easier to see and it actually served a purpose. I think I could send our robot out with no lights on it and few would probably notice. It is a step in the right direction because they're smaller and lighter, but functionality was compromised with this change to the kit. I would like to see something brighter that blinked longer in shorter intervals for next year.

[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