How does your team go about making your green LED ring light brighter so as to pick up the retro tape from farther away? For example, like 118 in 2017.
We on 1519 have done this by using multiple ring lights of different sizes. We’ve used as many as three concentric ring lights. (In 2013 for our full-court shooter.) The same ring lights as in FIRST Choice can be bought from http://superbrightleds.com
The three that we have nested in the past are AE60-G15, AE80-G24 and AE100-G33.
We have never used them, but I think the rings with the Black Circuit Board have more LEDs and are even brighter (more lumens). See https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-halo-rings/led-angel-eye-headlight-accent-lights-black-circuit-board/1117/
You may want to consider a different LED. The rings, while very convenient, will vary their light output based on battery voltage. Consider driving LED(s) with a constant current source.
Pairing these two together is a great option.
Our team has had great experiences with the Adafruit products!
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Alternatively, if you’re really sold on the ring idea, try putting one of these Buck-Boost converters inline to keep a nice steady 12V.
Nice!
What micro did you use to control these? Did you use them in more than one mode, anx how did you command the mode changes?
If I remember correctly we used an Adruino (nano I think) with just a constant input for green. I don’t remember requiring any other components except for the wiring, since they work on 5V, which the Arduino is capable of delivering. Don’t take my word for this though, I did not work with it myself, some of our students took care of it with another mentor
Is there any way to wire it without using an arduino or raspberry pi?
We have it wired into a spike relay for turning it off and on.