Hello All!

Trying to comply with FAA regulations for UAVs, I am trying to find a cheap, light-weight strobe light (anti-collision light) to use on my UAV that doesn't draw more than 12V. My airframe is an Alpha 60...so it can carry a good-sized load, however I've already added on about 3+ pounds of equipment and am looking for a strobe light and power supply that won't push the overall weight of the airframe over it's maximum.

I've been looking all over the internet for about 2 weeks trying to find something that is practicable, but without success.

If anyone has any ideas please share!

Thanks,

Kevin L.

Views: 160

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Why not use an LED

http://wild-bohemian.com/electronics/flasher.html
You might want to look at emergency strobes lights designed for scuba diving. They're compact, low voltage, and most models don't weigh that much...
Use a 1 or 3 watt led with a suitable diffuser. They (leds and regulators) can be found at places like dealextreme.com for less then $10 total. Maybe you'd better build your own regulator so the strobe can flash & at higher amps.
Hi Kevin

Many years ago I made a Xenon strobe set useing a camera flash circuit; I changed the single tube with 2 U shaped Xenon tubes and then taped the them onto the wing tips,this worked quite well. The camera stobes run off 2AA battery it might be worth a try.

Lance
Modern LED bicycle light. Cheap, available at your local supermarket, modest power draw and usually has complete circuitry with flashing functionality.
Hi
I did try one but found that at 300Ft altitude i could not see it while trying to maintain a hover in bright sun shine; but the stobe faced down so that you are looking up gave a better balance, but now I am working on dual axes gyro stabilization and the stobe only helps with oriantation.
If you know someone at a fotolab, see if you can score a couple of those cheapy disposable cameras with built in flash.
They run off 3V. Just trigger when the "Ready" light comes on.
It's cheap and nasty but works.
I've used them on hot air balloons I've made from wrapping tissue.
You can see them for miles!
Other than that just use a high intensity LED with a 555 in an astable configuration.

RSS

Contests

Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The third round was a reliablilty/aerial photography round for both planes and copters, which is now closed. Stay tuned for the next round, beginning soon.

A list of all T3 contests is here

 

© 2012   Created by Chris Anderson.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service