The OptoFire Searchlight | BEAMSHOTS on page 3 | record-breaking aspheric LED thrower

Thanks :slight_smile:

Wow, great pictures and a fun read. Great job on the build!

thanks for sharing this project, very nice build

Thank you! :slight_smile:

So you are doing a reflector build for your next torch. What if you make it so you put an aspheric focusing just the hotspot opening? @#$% with the spill…

Should net you some gain.

In a reflector-based light, the hotspot comes from the light which goes sideways into the reflector, and the spill comes from the part which goes forward directly out the lens. This is exactly backward from how an aspheric thrower works, so they don’t really combine well.

As far as I do understand, ToyKeeper, the reflector hotspot is a combination of the sideways carefully bounced at the right angle emitter output and the corresponding narrow central angle emission (the longer the throw the narrower this part is, doesn't it?). However I can see how increasingly difficult to manufacture, costful and shape emitter optimized a reflector is to be for maximum performance.

I'm no expert in optics, Enderman may shed some additional light for sure (like how big and how far the lens would be required to sit). The question is: What'$ th€ nam€ of all of that g€ar and $tuff?

Cheers

:slight_smile:
It will be a reflector light but there will be 0 spill, without needing to use lenses or anything else.

Recoil thrower? Inverse wavien? Other? Secret recipe?

Recoil?
ADDED: minute too late :wink:

Yes! :slight_smile:
I won’t spoil all the other juicy details though, all I’ll say is that the mirror is gonna cost half a grand xD

Hey, you’re stealing my idea ! :open_mouth: :wink:
Well, i guess you have the funds for a reflector, and i don’t…
I’m obviously very interested in that project, can’t wait to see more.

On another note:
This aspheric light, am i correct in noticing you blow the cooling air through the Wavien collar?
Aren’t you afraid the surface will get dirty and / or oxidised?

I came up with the idea about 3 years ago, back when I didn’t know anything about flashlight forums.
I got pretty excited when I saw the Uber thrower thread with people that had the same idea as me :slight_smile:
Unfortunately it has already been patented, but I guess that means I don’t need to worry about people stealing my design…or pay fees every year.
Until now I’ve been sticking to lenses because I thought they were better, but I’m kinda hitting a wall, and the chromatic aberration I discovered in this thread makes me not like lenses as much anymore.
.
Yes, most of the airflow goes through the collar.
Thanks to the mesh at the back of the flashlight I don’t have to worry about large particles or insects getting inside the light or on the collar.
Some dust does settle, but very little since it is a very smooth surface and almost nothing sticks to it, the air just pushes right past.
Not really worried about it oxidizing, cold mirror coatings are pretty resistant to oxygen environments.
The reason I wanted lots of air flowing past the collar is to keep it from fogging up in high humidity environments, and water on it would almost certainly damage the coating.

How can one patent a parabolic mirror reflecting light in one direction?
That’s silly…
Yeah, of course it wasn’t ‘my idea’, i think it must have been invented discovered within a week of the invention of the ‘open air arc’ electrical light (that’s on 200+ Volts with 2 carbon rods and a big shunt resistor that can heat up a room…)

But i.m.o. an LED begs for a recoil light, since it emits light only one way, in a 120° cone, more or less.
I assume you’ll be using a beam or cross made of heat pipes?
Looking forward to your reports.

Yeah, the rainbow / prism effect is always there with an aspheric.
This is why i was wondering about monochromatic light, like 580nm yellow.
I guess you could use a multi lens set up like cameras do, to avoid it? Complex and expensive of course…

There was also another one that I can’t find again right now.
It’s not just a reflector that is patented, but the invention of a reverse facing LED + parabolic reflector + cooling and housing design.
It’s basically an entire product.

I’ll talk about LED cooling when I start the build log.
First I’m applying for funding from my university.

Achromatic lenses are extremely expensive, and would need to be custom made even for the 120mm size of the optofire.
I want to go bigger, but lenses about 6-12” in diameter would simply be impossible to either produce or afford.
Also, there will always be some chromatic aberration and spherical aberration no matter how precise the aspheric lenses are.
Since a parabola is an easily defined mathematical shape it is a lot easier to manufacture reliably and more ideal for light collimation :slight_smile:

Hmmm…
It’s just a couple of ancient inventions combined i.m.h.o.
Okay, an LED is not ancient…

Can you tell us what size reflector we’re talking about?
Should be pretty large for ‘half a grand’ :smiley:

Most patents are really just that, a combination of different technologies.
There are different types of patents, and it’s perfectly fine to take several other things and combine them into a new device that does something :slight_smile:

Reflector will be 11” diameter.
I wanted to go with 12” for even more lux but there are several logistical issues which I will probably just avoid completely by going with 11.
According to my calculations 11” should be enough to pass the maxabeam, which is my upcoming goal :slight_smile:

I only understand bits & pieces of the technical talk……
…… BUT —— I do understand “0 spill”. :smiley: … :+1:

That sounds like my dream light Enderman…… :slight_smile:

11” :open_mouth: :sunglasses:
Not quite portable then… :smiley:

I totally agree.
But I don’t think it’s fine to prevent others from doing so because they didn’t make it to the patent office first.