jeffmazter406

Sweet! Please keep me posted on how everything goes. I am currently at the University of Houston - still working with sUAS on the side - but more so on the integration of sUAS into the public safety industry instead of R&D.

Hello - that is awesome that you are making this your final year project - the link should work: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_bYmGJ0v1Ncb283TF8tWXF6ZWcIf not, PM me. Also check out Daniel Riley's YouTube Channel: rctestflight He has gotten into Solar Airplanes and has been doing a really good job of making them.

Hey MU5ICI4N, I am glad that you got your light to work. Great job!

Sorry you are having these troubles - I've had faulty drivers in the past before...but before we do that, lets troubleshoot each thing and see if we can determine what is at fault. Oftentimes, the drivers are programmed to flash when the battery is low. The Lithium batteries you are using (18650 or (R)CR123A) should be at 4.20V charged. Depending on how it is programmed, anything below 3.60 volts may cause it to start flashing. 1) Battery - What batteries are you using and are they charged? Verify with a multi-meter. 2) Measure the current the driver is putting through the emitter - use this tutorial: http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/Measurement%20UK.htm...3) Check all your solder joints...you could have a cold joint somewhere and that's what's making your driver act up. 4) Maybe it is t...

Sorry you are having these troubles - I've had faulty drivers in the past before...but before we do that, lets troubleshoot each thing and see if we can determine what is at fault. Oftentimes, the drivers are programmed to flash when the battery is low. The Lithium batteries you are using (18650 or (R)CR123A) should be at 4.20V charged. Depending on how it is programmed, anything below 3.60 volts may cause it to start flashing. 1) Battery - What batteries are you using and are they charged? Verify with a multi-meter. 2) Measure the current the driver is putting through the emitter - use this tutorial: http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/Measurement%20UK.htm...3) Check all your solder joints...you could have a cold joint somewhere and that's what's making your driver act up. 4) Maybe it is the driver this is faulty...sometimes that happens - email the manufacturer - they may reply, they may not. Feel free to add a few images of your progress to this comment thread - I'd like to see your project. Best of luck.

When I replied to your question previously, my idea of the solar laser ground station was purely based on my imagination - it turns out that the technology is already available although I am unsure if you would be able to access that technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_Stalker

That is a great question. I am not really sure myself - my initial thoughts are that rotor powered aircraft would require a lot more power than a fixed wing aircraft because the rotors/propellers are the only source of lift and it only creates that when spinning at a certain RPM. Feel free to ask around on other forums, but the best way I can think of to provide charge through a completely solar powered system is if you either 1) Tether your quadcopter to the ground and have a thin wire transmitting the power to the aircraft - the ground station would have a large solar array capable of collecting the required amount of energy for your quadcopter or 2) have a solar ground station that converts the solar power into a infrared laser beam that is shone at the flying quadcopter which has a ...

That is a great question. I am not really sure myself - my initial thoughts are that rotor powered aircraft would require a lot more power than a fixed wing aircraft because the rotors/propellers are the only source of lift and it only creates that when spinning at a certain RPM. Feel free to ask around on other forums, but the best way I can think of to provide charge through a completely solar powered system is if you either 1) Tether your quadcopter to the ground and have a thin wire transmitting the power to the aircraft - the ground station would have a large solar array capable of collecting the required amount of energy for your quadcopter or 2) have a solar ground station that converts the solar power into a infrared laser beam that is shone at the flying quadcopter which has a receiver on it. Here's where I came up with that idea from: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-06/satellites-could-gather-energy-sun-and-beam-it-down-earthWith both of my ideas, your quadcopter would be limited in terms of range and the cost to build the ground station and create all this other stuff I just mentioned would certainly be out of your budget requirements. If you want to move forward with any of this, let me know and we can throw some more ideas together. Is what I just mentioned practical? Maybe. Consider your POU (philosophy of use) and then determine what your best way is to proceed is. Let me know if you have any other questions or if you'd like to develop this concept further. Best of luck.

To switch modes, depress the switch and release - this particular light I built has a reverse clicky switch so I could switch modes with the light already on (light press on the switch without turning it on.) With a forward clicky switch, I would have to switch modes when the light is off (light click on the switch without turning it to constant on by fully activating the switch). This particular LED Driver switches modes based on a timer inside, so when it detects a switch cycle (on/off), it is programmed to go into the next mode.