User talk:Daveb

Dave Brown - hacker in spirit.

Project Ideas

Project	Status	Notes
Reconfigurable sailing proa	plan	Rob Denny at http://www.harryproa.com has some interesting things to say about Proas and how they could be the basis for a cheap, high performance, spacious sailing cruising boat. Perhaps the ideal cruising boat :). I want to explore the sailing characteristics in a model.
LED lights and lenses for my bike	plan	http://pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/DynamoCircuits.htm explains the matching of LEDs to bike generators. I plan to have several strings of LEDs with different beam angles and aiming points - and the appropriate string of LEDs turned on for the curent bike speed.
LED lights in walking stick	idea	Want to combine a torch and walking stick for my father. Should be reliable over several years, have little impact on the walking stick, and provide light when needed with no manual switch.

Bike Headlight

Have ordered LEDs, reflectors and lenses. Have an attiny85 from the space components. Still need a dynamo, some diodes, mosfets, npns, a circuit and some firmware - oh and maybe a heatsink for the LEDs:). The project is moving along.

Switches for LED current

• This SMD Dual Logic Level MOSFET will control two sets of LEDs directly from the MCU - given enough heat-sink capability on the board and enough voltage from the MCU (3.3 or 5v compatibke , Has ESD, over temp and over current protection... is really tiny! If the logic level REALLY needs to be 3.3v then that is an issue :( 3.3v logic turns into about +3.45v regulator (3.3v + a 200mV diode drop to allow the MCU tp be reprogramed in circuit) with 415mV regulation margin - nearly 4v reqd for the MCU.. when the LEDs start to light up near 3v :(.

• This TO220 MOSFET should carry the 0.5a curent - perhaps without any heatsinking at all. and combined with a small transister should operate well at a supply voltage of 3v.

There are a few impacts of this choice..

• SMD or through hole!!!
• Many fewer devices from the SMD integrated logic level MOSFETS
• Higher operating voltages might be required by the SMD MOSFETs

Voltage regulator for the MCU

Needs to operate of a widely varied supply voltage. The dynamo generates a voltage proportional to the bike speed. Potentially reaching hundreds of volts. And the higher the voltage climbs, the more power I can use in the LEDs! Many components to deal with 0.5A are specced at about 40 to 60V - so that is a very high limit for the working voltage. A chain of 6 LEDs would need 24v. My plans are for 3 LEDs in a chain - so 20V is a good target.

For 2.7V MCUs these are the possible best regulators.

• 3.0v, 200mV drop out, 50 mA, max 40v supply gets 2.8v MCU supply after a 200mV diode, from a 3.2V supply :). It is a 4 pin SMD device for £1.60.
• 3.0v, 120mV drop out, 50mA, 16V max supply will do above from a 3.12V supply, but restricts me to chains of fewer than four LEDs. £0.46
• 3v, 350mV drop out, 100mA, 30V max supply is a small 3 pin through hole package for £0.46. Supply voltage is now 3.35V :(.

For 1.8V MCU ..

• a 2.5V, 300mV drop out, 100mA, 20V max power supply will allow operation at 2.8V:).

Diode to isolate MCU

This diode should allow the MCU to be reprogrammed in circuit, without blowing up the vreg or anything else with badly applied voltages.

• 200mA, 260mV fwd voltage drop, 600mA surge current 5 for £0.40

It is a dual common cathode part.

• 1a, 160mV fwd voltage drop, 30v max reverse voltage £0.154 - however this wonder component is US stock, so £16 extra charge! (there are a few similar low voltage drop diodes and they are all US stock).
  • The Datasheet says the VF Max is 0.4V - crap !