My brothers & nephews love to camp so they should like these I think.
I just learned of this project from a dear friend, so I joined BLF to participate; as well as hopefully learn a bit more about flashlights in general. They seem somewhat complicated these days.
I just got here, have some interest, looked at OP and last couple pages but can’t really tell the current design phase or the goals. Is it too late to ask for specific features? 1) include a timing crystal on the board, so that the light can accurately turn itself on at a particular time; 2) include some kind of external connection. A computer port might be too fancy but a simple pair of contacts that are in parallel with the pushbutton switch would allow operating the light remotely and this would be a win, both from being able to use the lantern as a room light and for configurating Anduril from a computer.
There is at least 1 other thread asking for lights that turn on at sunrise, so multiple people definitely want a timing feature, the crystal is maybe a 5 cent part, and unlike a flashlight I hope the lantern is not terribly cramped for PCB space. So I support including it.
Has the CPU been chosen and what will it be? Will the lantern have enough heat sinking / radiators to be able to run long periods at 1000+ lumens without getting too warm? (A lantern should do that, it is not a flashlight after all). Will it be able to run on external power instead of battery power? Maybe at this point it becomes a lamp instead of a lantern, but I haven’t been able to find any programmable lamps with high CRI. Thanks!