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Low Voltage warning LEDS

Posted by charlie Soppelsa on October 5, 2011 at 10:41am

http://vimeo.com/30086732

Untitled from charlie soppelsa on Vimeo.

This little gizmo has saved my bacon on many occasions.

 

 

Multirotors tend to fall out of the sky with no warning if you let your lipo go flat. I use strip LEDs as navigation aids to help orientation. The snag is they are very power hungry, one metre of LED strip draws about 0.5 amps, this takes a big chunk out of your flying time. To reduce power consumption I flash the LED's on a 1:10 duty cycle reducing the current consumption by 90%

 

The controller can handle upto 3 metres of LED's. It is powered off the main flight battery and monitors it's voltage. It can be set for 2-4S batteries. When the battery voltage drops to a preset level (3.3 volts per cell) the LED's flash fast to warn you to land. So, hopefully no more death dives.

 

I'm thinking of build some neat and tidy surface mount versions, I was wondering if anybody would be interested in buying them ?

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Comments

  • charlie Soppelsa October 9, 2011 at 3:21am

    mm2, I take Sebastians point, although it's not that simple for people unfamiliar with software hacks and Mosfets, buffering etc and just want a simple plug and play unit. Don't forget, lots of Multirotors don't have the benefits of a ACM. So I'm going to get a few units built, let you know when there done.

  • Anis Nielsen October 8, 2011 at 9:06am

    I would be interrested

  • Sebastian Gralla October 7, 2011 at 4:03am

    mm a little hack and APM can do this for you with just a FET as additional hardware (which is a few cents...)

     

    (don't blame me for not posting it, I have already and Jose julio did, too )

  • Developer
    Mark Colwell October 6, 2011 at 2:21pm

    Looks like you have a useful product! Go for production!  Get LED strips from China! strip of 60 for $5.00  Good Luck! This will also extend lipo life... HK has a great little warning device for 2 - 4 cells with 2 loud alarms and flashing lights, but you can not set low voltage values so it is not as useful. 

  • nubli hashim October 6, 2011 at 12:48pm

    nice.. if the price is right I like to buy too

  • Mago October 6, 2011 at 2:48am

    the answer is YES!

    very useful feature, also on those little, night-flying epo wings we use to fly after the sunset

  • palo sestak October 6, 2011 at 2:35am
    If the price is acceptable I would buy it right now since I already have some dead dives :-(
  • charlie Soppelsa October 6, 2011 at 12:18am

    I by my LED strips in the UK from Robotbirds or Giantcod, about £10 metre.

  • Sergio October 5, 2011 at 2:28pm

    Yes, this is amazing, I would love to have some on my quad. 

  • The Old Flyer October 5, 2011 at 2:01pm

    GREAT IDEA!  I would like several.  What led strips did you use?

This reply was deleted.