Concept Summary:
"The Sentinel" will be a portable spotlight with adjustable beam focus, comprised of an array of Ahorton aspheric lenses sitting above XPL-HI V4 3C LEDs, powered by a large lipo pack.
Parts Acquisition:
| COMPONENT | QTY | Supplier | STATUS |
| Ahorton aspheric lenses | 56 | Illumn | Received. |
| XPL-HI V4 3C LEDs | 56 | Intl-Outdoor | Ordered 12/5/19. Received. |
| Lipo packs: 4s 10,000mAh | 2 | Hobby King | Recieved. May order two more to double pack capacity. |
| Backpack for Lipo packs | 1 | TBD | Need to model pack components and determine a suitable backpack. |
| Driver | ~ | ~ | Need to design the driver. |
| Aluminum plates, etc. | ~ | Local | Sizes TBD |
| Gears for focus adjustment | ~ | Mcmaster-Carr | Sizes TBD |
| Fans | 4 | Digikey | Ordered. In transit. |
| Wire, misc screws, components | ~ | ~ | TBD as CAD model progresses. |
CURRENT PARTS INVESTMENT: $782.15 (as of Dec 26th 2019)
BUILD LOG ENTRIES:
12/5/2019:
Data's "Data Bank 70" has always been among my all time favorite light builds and for many years now I have wanted to build a serious successor. The cost and scope however put it firmly in the "distant project" category. In September of 2018, I must've been in one of my restless/inspired states, daring to confront my own mediocrity, I started the rough CAD sketch of The Sentinel to determine the viability of the thing, how many Ahorton aspheric lenses I could fit within a reasonably sized head, how thick it would have to be, how the focus would work, how it could be adequately cooled, and so on. I decided that I had to build the thing and in that excitement, ordered the required Ahorton aspherics and a couple of 10,000 mAh 4s lipo packs, but CAD development tapered off from there and I did not make that next step of ordering all of the LEDs. Today I ordered the LEDs from Hank, and am resuming CAD work while waiting for their arrival.
The design will take some inspiration from the sentinel robots from the film "The Matrix," and it is after them that this light is named.
12/8/2019:
The layout of the LEDs and optics. They will be wired in 8S7P configuration and powered by an 8S pack. Routing and concealing all of the wires will be a challenge but I think it can be done cleanly. The size is about 9-1/4" x 9-1/4". [~230mm] Handles will be added to the sides.
12/18/2019:
The LEDs have arrived. That was fast. I have chosen the impeller fans and gears. A heatsink and fan guard design has been roughed in. It looks like a Rorschach test from hell. I've modeled an extended bezel to shroud the side-most aspheric lenses. I will start chipping away at the more complicated details soon.
12/31/19:
OK, so a bit of a wrench in the works… my landlord wants the house/shop that I am renting back so a relative of his can live here. I have to move out by February 1st and then set up shop somewhere else. In light of this, I may decide to build something considerably simpler for the OL contest.
