FLEX Asgard @ Fasttech

Sweet. You can also just say ‘no’ and then swipe the screen over to edit modes.

To answer my own earlier question, it does not appear as if the user can define true-strobe modes, at least not with any of the basic options. The shortest time step is 30ms, or about 1/33rd of a second, and both the time steps and brightness levels are pretty coarse-grained.

“Advanced steps” include:

  • Random Time
  • Adv. Pause
  • Goto step
  • PWM/PR2
  • PWM/T2CON
  • PWM/CCPR1L
  • PWM/CCP1CON
  • PWM/PSTRCON
  • TMR/OPTION_REG

I don’t know what they mean, but each advanced step can have a value of 0 to 253. I assume the random time function can be used to make extra-disorienting random-speed flashy tactical strobe modes, and the goto step function can be used to repeat a loop forever. Otherwise I don’t really know.

Brightness levels available are: off, non-PWM (12.5, 25, 37.5, 50, 62.5, 75, 87.5, 100, 18mA), PWM (0.6, 0.9, 1.25, 1.9, 2.5, 4.3, 6.3, 9.4).

Time steps include: forever, 30ms, 50ms, 0.1s, 0.2s, 0.3s, 0.4s, 0.5s, 0.6s, 0.7s, 0.8s, 0.9s, 1s, 1.5s, 2s, 2.5s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s.

I’m hoping the advanced steps and future app updates will allow more complex and fine-grained configuration.

Ok, thanks. The “swipe” did it, but I don’t think that the French would like it being sent there (or maybe they might :laughing:…

insert a different f word for “france” sorry, bit of mancunian colloquial slang there….

Gords,

You made me have to look up “mancunian” :)!

Had issues with the app from the start… Crashed in landscape… crashed while testing something…
Tried to make a mode setup. pressed save, then it crashed… After that… it crashes constantly… I just have to terminate the program. Afterwards, it crashes at start-up.

Waited… then it magically worked again. played with modes… back to crashing… |(

Phone: Samsung Galaxy SII with android 4.1.2 and latest update.

I have sent several error reports after the crashes… I hope it will be sorted out.

damm, that’s a shame, I wonder if its software or hardware crashing? touch wood its done what I asked yet, but I dint expect to be in a position to upload for a bit yet, I’m liking that fasttech is doing their best to iron out the bugs before shipping, props for that.

Edit:- just incase I wasn’t clear earlier, I really want to be able to shove this driver or a multicell version into other hosts, please make this happen fasttech, please. :cowboy_hat_face:

+1000

Of course, after the issues have been solved…
on second though… Just get the driver on sale. The app the be improved later on. I want to see what people can do with these drivers!

well…….

first thing would be to establish if each 7135 is individually addressed, then we know if we can have moon - 12.5% of 3a - 37.5% of 3a - 4.5a+ turbo.

then find a host small enough to accept the bluetooth aerial (and if it’s necessary in a reflector/lense removed situation).

I’d also like to know if the technology will, in the fullness of time span single/parallel li-ion, series li-ion single emitter and series multi-emitter. because I see this as as much a game changer for modding as for off the shelf lights.

The other obvious question is, fasttech, um, you know that nice zy-t08 contact board

As for a DIY version of the driver, I'm sure somebody here could figure a way to do an external antenna that either permanently uses an isolated part of the light on the outside, or adding a socket so it could be attached for programming and then removed... the R&D potential of the community here could be something that helps make for better production pieces, too. 0:)

Yeah the advanced steps need explained. Maybe they could be labeled in a more understandable way.

Also, I can’t find a way to delete a mode while creating a new profile.

@ToyKeeper, please let us know what kind of time intervals you are expecting, and we’ll see if it can be done. a 1/16.5 strobe cycle seems plenty fast to me. Our Convoy line (using Nanjg) doesn’t even strobe that fast.

To remove a mode, just swipe the mode left or right. Same goes for steps.

Some of the “advanced modes” give you direct access to certain “registers” on the MCU to control PWM speed, duty cycle, etc. They are not meant for all users and we are going to hide them from the app in the next update. There will be an option to re-enable them later on (not in the update yet). To truly utilize them some knowledge with MCU registers is required. It is unlikely to be something we can fully explain in the app.

Regarding listing the driver separately, it will definitely happen later on. We really don’t have the technical resources to provide support right now and the rationale is if we sell a relatively expensive piece of electronic component without support, we’ll probably see a bunch of complaints in PayPal even if it’s listed “as-is”. When we finish releasing our flashlights, we will have more resources to support modders and we will list it separately then.

Next on our list is alternate battery barrels for the Asgard, and some extra lights in other form factors.

Jasmine

PS. check for an updated to the app if you have it installed. It solves quite a crash as reported via your devices.

jasmine, thankyou for that, you made my day, I understand about doing one thing at once, thankyou for all this, the obvious effort you guys are putting in to bring out a polished product is really appreciated.

A 30ms flash is far too long, because it shows blurred motion instead of still frames. I’m thinking more like 0.1ms at 100, followed by 49.9ms at 0, then repeat, for a 20Hz strobe with 0.2% duty cycle. Perhaps what I’m looking for is fine-grained control over PWM… So, the MCU/PWM registers sound very promising.

I don’t care about a tactical “strobe” which flashes at 8Hz with a 50% duty cycle. That is designed to disorient attackers, and does nothing for my purposes.

Instead, I want to be able to set a user-adjustable PWM rate from ~0.5Hz to ~500Hz with a near-zero duty cycle. The purpose is to freeze moving objects in motion (like a camera flash, a party strobe light, or normal low-speed PWM). For example, point it at a spinning fan, select a PWM/strobe speed matching the fan’s rotation rate, and it appears to make the fan stop moving. Or set it to a slow PWM rate (like 5Hz, again with near-zero duty cycle) and point it at a water fountain. The water will appear to flow as a series of still photographs, each drop and splash frozen in time just long enough to see, instead of appearing to move smoothly. Or point the light at a ceiling and match its PWM rate to the beat of a song, perhaps 70bpm for a 140bpm song, and then everyone dancing gets highlighted to the beat, hair floating in wild positions as if frozen in the air.

Maybe I’m weird, but this is the type of strobe I’m looking for. I get the feeling nobody else wants this feature though, so I’ll probably just have to flash some drivers myself and play with the PWM patterns until it looks right.

Why, it's almost as if they understand that it's counterproductive to try and nickel and dime people to death, and instead if you work to make people happy they will voluntarily hand over the money! Shocking! I bet that strategy would be highly frowned upon in most business schools. :)

Even without any true-strobe motion-freezing features though, the FLEXcandles series lights look very appealing. It’s simply designed more for practical purposes (the perfect set of custom output levels) instead of entertainment purposes (making parties more fun).

I just wanted to add that the Bluetooth features on my Asgard functions pretty much flawlessly. I said this with an update on my preview thread but, guess I'll say it here too . . .

If I point the light at my phone at angle, it connects on the first or second attempt every time and it accepts new profiles instantly. My T60 is a much better flashlight in every way but it sits unused and will continue to gather more dust while I give the Asgard yet another new set of modes. I've done up to 8-modes in one profile and I can even cycle it through the modes with my phone from up to about 5-feet away.

Not sure what happened but something definitely changed when I took it apart for the macro shots. And I didn't even remove anything from the pill. When I put it back together, the flickering was gone and unlike before, it now cycled through to BT mode. Before, it reported the wrong volts and displayed a low battery warning. After reassembly it showed the correct voltage and began accepting commands without a hitch.

In fact, it works so well I'm having a hard time remaining objective about the machine quality and bad ano. The wireless fun with this light goes a long way toward making it easier to overlook its cosmetic issues.

I know I've been brutally honest about the build quality and I take absolutely nothing back. But, I must be equally honest about its operation, which, at least so far, is damn near perfect.

Foy is not slammin' or shillin' . . . just tellin' it like it be.

/hijackFoy

I agree with both of you, trying to work with your customers to make them happy is an interesting concept and the flexibility of the overall system is remarkable, being able to fit all this in a host that suits a persons personal circumstances is the icing on the cake.

It seems the hunt for at least on perfect driver just got a lot easier.

As an aside, I’ve been carrying my zy-t08 in my day bag recently, just to get used to having the form factor to hand.

You can actually do that by using a few advanced steps, configurable via the app. You can achieve 250Hz to 500Hz PWM in the current Asgard light.

Modders are going to have different technical questions. Common drivers like Nanjg can virtually be “fully supported” by the community. The driver used in Asgard is custom made and we’ll likely be the only one able to provide technical support.

If you really want a driver as-is knowing that we will not be able to provide full technical support, PM me I’ll give you a quote and we can ship them right away.

:party:

Nobody else would do something like that, and especially not with what's considered a flagship product. Amazing. Really, really amazing.

it really is amazing how fasttech treats their customers. could you imagine asking nitecore for an ea8 driver for example? i dont think it would end in a price quote

thank you fasttech!