For any seriously useful bike headlight, a number of light output levels is highly desirable, if not essential. I would like to raise for discussion :-
(a) Is the almost universally employed method of sequentially switching between modes convenient or optimum?
(b) How many power levels are desirable? (Assuming a convenient way of switching between them)
(c) If we could choose, what is the best method (user interface) for switching between modes, or power levels?
My own views on (a) are shaped by owning multimode LED torches, and I absolutely can’t stand them!! You know the deal, one click to turn on, next click gives low power, next click a useless gimmick flashing mode, next click back to high power and so on. Drives me totally nuts. Even ignoring the flashing mode that I don’t want, but am still forced to cycle through, I find the method of sequentially cycling through “N” modes to be silly and completely unsatisfactory. This sequential method suits manufacturers because it is very cheap and easy to implement, especially with microprocessor based designs. Too bad it is a total pain in the arse to use ….
Here’s what I want. It would be nice to have around 8 power levels, and essential to have a method of simply and instantly switching from any power level, to any other power level. No led driver board that I know of comes even close to achieving this goal, so I’ll build my own. My suggested solution is simple.
For the purpose of illustration, I’ll assume that the light I’m building has a maximum output of 700 Lumens, which will be close to the truth. On the back of the light there will be three small toggle switches, arranged in a horizontal row.
The left hand switch, switches100 Lumens of light in or out.
The middle switch, switches 200 Lumens of light in or out.
The right hand switch, switches 400 Lumens of light in or out.
Being a binary sequence, that gives 8 power settings, from zero up to 700 Lumens, in steps of 100 Lumen. OK, that’s a nice start, but what really rocks is the ease with which you can instantly switch from any given power setting, to any other power setting. Here are some examples of switching functions that would commonly be required, illustrating the power and convenience of this simple arrangement. Note that here in Oz, switches are turned ON by pulling the toggle downwards.
(a) From ANY power setting, you wish to instantly go to full power. Easy, push all three toggles down, in a single action.
(b) From any power setting, you wish to instantly turn the lights off completely. Easy, pull all toggles up.
(c) You decide that 700 Lumens is ideal for “high beam”, and 300 Lumens good for low beam when you see an oncoming bike or vehicle. Easy, with all switches down for high beam, pull the RH switch up for low beam, then down again to resume high beam.
(d) You are riding at full power, and decide to cut the power back just slightly to conserve battery. Easy, flick up the LH switch to remove 100Lumen, or the middle switch to remove 200 Lumen, or both to remove 300Lumen, or RH switch to remove 400 Lumen. Of course,should a corner or tricky section come unexpectedly, you can be back to full power in a flash (if you'll pardon the pun) by pushing all toggles down.
I think you get the idea. By pulling toggle(s) up or down, you can simply and almost instantly go from anything to anything, which is exactly what I want, and will tolerate no less.
This is very easy to implement in the driver hardware – I can talk about how to do that if anyone is interested.
Toggle switches would not be suitable for an underwater light but, provided the toggle is horizontal or slightly downwards facing, I have never had a problem with waterproofing, though I do try to avoid riding for hours in heavy rain ….
Does this idea make sense to anyone else, and has anyone else tried it?
(a) Is the almost universally employed method of sequentially switching between modes convenient or optimum?
(b) How many power levels are desirable? (Assuming a convenient way of switching between them)
(c) If we could choose, what is the best method (user interface) for switching between modes, or power levels?
My own views on (a) are shaped by owning multimode LED torches, and I absolutely can’t stand them!! You know the deal, one click to turn on, next click gives low power, next click a useless gimmick flashing mode, next click back to high power and so on. Drives me totally nuts. Even ignoring the flashing mode that I don’t want, but am still forced to cycle through, I find the method of sequentially cycling through “N” modes to be silly and completely unsatisfactory. This sequential method suits manufacturers because it is very cheap and easy to implement, especially with microprocessor based designs. Too bad it is a total pain in the arse to use ….
Here’s what I want. It would be nice to have around 8 power levels, and essential to have a method of simply and instantly switching from any power level, to any other power level. No led driver board that I know of comes even close to achieving this goal, so I’ll build my own. My suggested solution is simple.
For the purpose of illustration, I’ll assume that the light I’m building has a maximum output of 700 Lumens, which will be close to the truth. On the back of the light there will be three small toggle switches, arranged in a horizontal row.
The left hand switch, switches100 Lumens of light in or out.
The middle switch, switches 200 Lumens of light in or out.
The right hand switch, switches 400 Lumens of light in or out.
Being a binary sequence, that gives 8 power settings, from zero up to 700 Lumens, in steps of 100 Lumen. OK, that’s a nice start, but what really rocks is the ease with which you can instantly switch from any given power setting, to any other power setting. Here are some examples of switching functions that would commonly be required, illustrating the power and convenience of this simple arrangement. Note that here in Oz, switches are turned ON by pulling the toggle downwards.
(a) From ANY power setting, you wish to instantly go to full power. Easy, push all three toggles down, in a single action.
(b) From any power setting, you wish to instantly turn the lights off completely. Easy, pull all toggles up.
(c) You decide that 700 Lumens is ideal for “high beam”, and 300 Lumens good for low beam when you see an oncoming bike or vehicle. Easy, with all switches down for high beam, pull the RH switch up for low beam, then down again to resume high beam.
(d) You are riding at full power, and decide to cut the power back just slightly to conserve battery. Easy, flick up the LH switch to remove 100Lumen, or the middle switch to remove 200 Lumen, or both to remove 300Lumen, or RH switch to remove 400 Lumen. Of course,should a corner or tricky section come unexpectedly, you can be back to full power in a flash (if you'll pardon the pun) by pushing all toggles down.
I think you get the idea. By pulling toggle(s) up or down, you can simply and almost instantly go from anything to anything, which is exactly what I want, and will tolerate no less.
This is very easy to implement in the driver hardware – I can talk about how to do that if anyone is interested.
Toggle switches would not be suitable for an underwater light but, provided the toggle is horizontal or slightly downwards facing, I have never had a problem with waterproofing, though I do try to avoid riding for hours in heavy rain ….
Does this idea make sense to anyone else, and has anyone else tried it?