If you’re interested in the firmware side of things, here’s a firmware repository you can check out and see what you think. You are free to download, use and modify the code to your liking. The repository is maintained by one of our resident members who is also a significant firmware code contributor around here. If you like, you can also contact her about uploading/sharing any firmware that you come up with. She doesn’t have all the firmware in her repository that’s floating around here, but a lot of it anyway. The Bistro firmware is her best work so far, in my opinion.
Here’s another thread. This one is specifically dealing with the development of code for the larger ATtiny chips. For years, we’ve had drivers and firmware design centered around the ATtiny13 MCU. A few months back, some members really began pushing into the ATtiny 25, 45, and 85 for the better hardware features and larger memory. Now, our drivers are getting more powerful and flexible all the time. It would be great to have you be part of that growth if you’re interested.
Finally, although there are still dozens of other threads you could visit, I’ll recommend only one more. This thread hasn’t been growing lately, but it shows some of the history of driver hardware development. The guys doing most of the driver hardware design these days are doing their own threads explaining it all. But, this is still a good thread to look through, and a lot of the projects in this thread are still quite relevant. You’re welcome to study these designs (and really most of the designs found on this site) and re-design or build from them anything you want. They are free/open source designs. Most of the development we’ve had over the years has been just small tweaks here and there. One member would design a driver, and another member would take that design and tweak it to add features or whatever, then another member again doing the same.
The limits are being probed, then pushed, then busted through all the time, and the train keeps rolling. We’d love for you to be part of that if you’re interested! Even the software/firmware people around here have helped push hardware development and hardware people make up new stuff all the time for the software/firmware guys to figure out how to code for!
Anyway, welcome again to our fabulous flashlight forum! That last guy that posted above, sb56637 is the owner/administrator of the site. There are no moderators, as we are self moderated. So, if you ever need anything site related, he’s the man! Enjoy!