My LED light bar is finally done!

[Sleepy]

I just got it, and I'm still at work. But I was so excited that I had to post a pic ASAP. So here it is:
http://www.geocities.com/zeek71
Just imagine it mounted to the front of the base platform. The "SEGWAY" on the front bumper would be right in between the two banks of LEDs, overlapping the center of the circuit board. I'll post pics of it mounted on Monday.

It's not for sale...yet.
It still requires a bunch of work to package it. But here are some basic specs:
16 LED's total, 6V, running at a little over 2 Watts. I think they're working on a 10 Watt version-- it's going to be a *lot* of light.

Currently, I'm running it off of a store-bought 7.2V NiMH battery pack, 3Ah capacity. At 2W, it'll last me 10 hours on a charge!

I'm happy with mine in it's prototype state.
But if any of you are interested in possibly buying one in the future, if the price is decent, please let me know. I won't hold you to it... but if there isn't too much interest, then my friend isn't going to pursue it too far. I'm trying to convince him to speed up development-- at least to have a product before SegwayFesT.

Thanks,
-Alex

BTW-- I'm not personally selling these. I just wanted one for myself and thought the SC community might be interested as well.

[mzokc]

Alex,

In Chicago, it's going to be great to see all the unique accessories invented for the HT. Just like CES, maybe there could be some awards! Thanks for the photo preview!

Mark

[Stan671]

That is a great looking light system, Sleepy. I am looking forward to more pix of it mounted and reports of it's effectiveness.

Stan Dobrowski

[Sleepy]

I wish I could take more credit for the design. But I've just given my input, as a Seg owner. I'm mainly the tester, and I guess since I've been posting on SC, I'm the promoter too.
I mounted the light bar tonight with some industrial velcro. It's so cool!!! The light is pretty well focused. I took some pics that I hope to upload on Monday. But they don't do it justice... you really have to see it in person.

-Alex

[Brooster]

VERY cool, sleepy!

Brooster

[Sleepy]

The latest pics are posted:
http://www.geocities.com/zeek71

It looks really cool mounted on the Seg. But there are still a few issues to be worked out-- like an on-off switch. Pulling the plug out works for now.
I strapped the NiMH battery on the control shaft with some velcro straps. The light bar itself is velcro'd onto the inside surface of the front bumper. So it's easy to install and remove for safe storage. After testing it on bumpy roads and about 8 miles of the U.C. Berkeley campus, it held up great.

I'll post more pics from outdoors once I get the next version with more power.

-Alex

[4Seg]

Alex, great work. I would be interested in purchasing one. :-)

be keen, keep clean, glide green.
http://www.stlsegway.com
Help support FIRST http://www.usfirst.org

[GadgetmanKen]

Hey Sleepy. Good job to those who have developed this so far. Looks like quite a lot of light. Having not seen it in person either, how well does it illuminate the pathway in front of you? Is the upfront light adequate for top speeds?

I have a couple improvements if your interested?
I noticed on that Ledtronics link
http://led.net/datasheets/Pages/pathled_light_strip/26.htm
a while back that they do custom designs as well as offer LED segments in different lengths with spacing of LED's of 1/2" up to 6" on flexible plastic strips 5' to 10' lengths. Economically I think this would be the way to go. Buy the long strips and cut to size. You may loose an LED or two buy cutting to length. But its flexible, meaning it bends and its not a pc board. Its plastic film. Its like most of your dash light instrumentation on most new cars these days, all on flexible plastic film. I would think the 7000k or 8000k nm Super White 5mm Dome LED's would definately do the trick. But then you have the voltage requirements that may differ from your 7.2 volts and their 12 volts. It all depends on how many LED's you use for the voltage required. LED's can be damaged by excessive current and over voltage. Like it says they can make them custom for the job.

Another suggestion is maybe instead of your flat battery you are using, you could try getting a twin pack (two - 3.6 volt) batteries & charger say for a Black-n-Decker type tool. This way you have a holder for two batteries. Take the charger, cut off the excess plastic body around it and the plug connections so all you have left is basically a charging holder and shell. Then cut the plastic length wise to a cylindrical shape to fit around the shaft of your HT. Then rewire and velcro it all together. Oh and maybe some flexible silicone gasket sealer around the body that fits up to the Segway control shaft (water seal) and maybe a few small drainage holes at the base of it for drainage that gets in around the batteries. This way you would have two batteries that can be pulled up out of contact with the lower contact point and still hold them. When you need light all you would have to do is push them both down to click and give power on demand. Following me?

Also, maybe to help focus and increase light output, perhaps you could place a chrome bezel (reflector) of some sort over the top of the LEDs to reflect the light forwards and downwards, instead of up and out. With open LED's the light is spread out in all directions, depending on the viewing angles. A reflector would help this. What do you think of my suggestions? Hope I can help. Need any more help just e-mail me OK?

"Wouldn't it be cool, if?...is like Folgers in my cup"

[Brooster]

Great pics Sleepy ... looks like a winner! Please keep us posted on the upgraded version. :)

Brooster

[Sleepy]

Thanks for all of your input! I'll pass it along. I've already requested a reflector. Although you get a cool looking halo effect without it.
Right now, at 2W, there's not quite enough light to go full speed. But I'm getting a 2X improvement later this week.

There's even more planned for the Seg light bar...
I had a brainstorming session with the designer and we came up with some really cool stuff!
All I can tell you right now is, hold off on buying those clip-on rear blinking lights.

I'm still not sure how "productized" this will be. So far I haven't gotten enough interest for them to dump a lot of money into injection molding housings and battery pack mounts. But at the very least, prototype-level lights will be available.

Brooster, I'll be sure to update everyone on the progress. I was *so* excited when I got my light mounted and tried it out in the dark. I just can't wait till all of these other features get added.

-Alex

[BAEHRTIME]

Yes if reasonable price I'm interested when ready. You are a clever guy! Best regards, Micky PS what about back side of base also? I was told that it's hard to see the BACK on me at night even with my current flasking lights, reflectors, etc.

[Sleepy]

Baehrtime,
There's some really neat stuff planned for the back side. But I think it'll be a while before a prototype is done for that. All I can say for now is that it should be all you need for lighting at night. I'll be sure to post any pics of improvements that I get. Thanks for your interest.

-Alex

[houstonseg]

very nice I might buy one my self when I get my segway.

-xavier lozano

[Sleepy]

FYI: Things were going slow for a while-- they had some trouble with overdriving the LED's. They were burning out prematurely. But things are still moving along. There's been some more interest in the light bar recently, so I'm hoping this pushes them to get something decent put together before Segwayfest. I'll bring whatever I have to show everyone.

-Alex

[solarseg]

The most you should drive them is .025 ma you can do more but will shorten the life plus it does not add a great more of light. You can count me in on the final version though. It looks sharp.

[Sleepy]

solarseg, thanks for the tip. Also, to everyone at Segfest, thanks for all of the great comments and suggestions! They'll be passed along to the right people. As you all saw, there are still some issues to be worked out. But I think there was enough interest to pursue this further to a final product. I'll keep posting to this thread as things develop.

-Alex

[Jackier]

put me on the list too Sleepy!

Jackie Seg-Away

http://www.treasuredmoment.com/Segway.htm

"I dwell in possibility"
Emily Dickinson

[powderhound]

Hey Sleepy - how's that LED light set up coming along? It's getting darker and darker as we head into fall and the segway light accessories are all backordered - so I'm looking for an alternative!!!

Don

[Sleepy]

There are still some reliability issues that need to be worked out. So they're not ready for sale yet.

I wish I could give you a firm date/price/specs, but things are really up in the air right now.

I have you on my contact list and will email you when they're done. Hopefully by then you won't have a light already.

-Alex

[powderhound]

Thanks Alex - will hold off as long as I can with the days getting shorter! Let me know!

[Freddy]

Hey Sleepy put me on you list as a buyer
Freddy

[Sleepy]

Gotcha Freddy.
Powderhound, I don't expect anyone to hold on forever. Before I got the prototype from my buddy, I actually bought a Seg-brand LED light just so I'm legal at night. I couldn't wait any longer. But for owners that already have headlights, I can see them wanting this one as a replacement. I think it's that cool.

Thanks for all of the interest everyone.

FYI: at this point I'm just a customer, like everyone else-- I just happen to be the one testing out the prototypes. But I might end up investing in this product. I just wanted to let everyone know that my opinions on this product may be slightly biased. Although as 6 month Seg owner, I can say that this is the first headlight system that I've been excited about. I'm pushing to get some prototypes out to a few key SC members to get their opinions.

-Alex