LED Third Brake Light, My Newest Design Options

[Special_Edy]

Interesting idea. Did you calculate the current flow thru each LED to utilize the proper size current limiting resiztor and optimize the output of the LED? I've seen many circuits that use the wrong sized resistors, this leads to dim LED or worse, overdriving the LED's and damaging them. (Will dim or just not work)

Also, based on the picture of the side marker light on your Celica, your not in the USA, do you have any restrictions on how bright a light can be? Seems to me that here in the USA, if I have a rear tail lamp as bright as a headlight, I'd probably get a ticket! lol So one like your first design with 50+ LEDS may be a better alternative.


Nice job.

Well, Ive learned alot about LEDs to say the least.
The LEDs are transistored for 14 volts and I lowered the forward voltage a tad so they should never have any problems.(even a whopping 50% power reduction would only drop light output by 10%)
As for the beam of the LEDs, they really do project most of the light in a tight cone. Anyone 1-2 car-lengths directly behind you will see it much more brilliantly(in the video it glitched my camera at about 5 feet) but its still far brighter than stock from any angle.
The only applicable laws that Ive read specify the maximum luminosity of a bulb mounted anywhere on the vehicle(except headlights and brakelights) can be no more than 300 lumens(in my state). This definately falls below 300 lumens and you could even argue that each of the 97 bulbs counts individually. The aim, shape, housing, lens, color and height of the brake light will be unchanged the only thing you are doing is replacing the barbaric incandescent bulb with a more enviromently friendly(and badass) light source. It also uses nearly half the energy and produces about twice the light of the incandescent.

Oh, and I am in the US, I just have JDM fenders and tails.



Now why I havent made much progress. A week and a half ago I did this-



I was in a turn lane and thought I saw the car in front of me go, so I turned and watched three cars go by before I could go. I let out the clutch and nailed the car in front of me(he had stopped ahead) . Guess I should of double-checked.


And of course the LED turn signal I was working on at the time was installed inside that turn signal housing. I had to run out into traffic to save it from getting run over(it flew out when the housing disintegrated).

Video of my turn signal functioning after the wreck

I think only 3 leds total stopped working, which were just the wire bending and shorting out(no repairs needed). But the board was cracked into many pieces, held together only by the LEDs and solder.





Here is my progress on the controller for the sequential turn.




Ive finished the 555 timer, it adjusts from 14hz-58hz.
Working on the three 4017 decade counters which do the sequencing.
The 4081 is just AND gates to make the 4017s count from 1-24 instead of 1-1000


Ive still got to wire in the resistors and some sort of mosfet or transistor to drive each of the 24 channels. I also want to utilize capacitors to fade the LEDs in the sequence out instead of them flashing off.





Finally, Im looking to get some clear LED's that produce red light. I found some that are half the brightness than the white ones I have now but have twice the beam width, so they are approximately 2 times the the lumen output.
I also found some wider angle clears that are apx. 5 times the output I want to order which are about the same price as my current bulbs, along with some 3Watt LEDs(they could probably damage your retinas:D) on heatsinks but those badboys are a $1.25 a piece.
Let me know guys-
would there be interest in a 400 lumen white LED third brake light?
And a 200 lumen red LED version(with clear bulbs)?

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Dec 10, 2012 - 3:29 AM

[broderp]

Sorry to hear about the accident. That hurts on a few levels......

Are you an engineer or engineering student? Your ideas and projects are sound. You remind me of myself when I was younger going thru school. (I'm a 43 year old engineer now BTW) Some of the terms you use are a bit incorrect, but who cares....the idea is getting across, your projects work and your skills in soldering seem decent. I worked as an engineering tech while in college, learned a lot abotu soldering and testing of components and such.

I look forward to seeing your sequential turn controller.

[Special_Edy]

Actually I just finished my first semester of college(dunno why I waited till 22 to start:/ ) and I think I want to be a mechanical engineer. But usually I just get some kind of idea into my head and I learn how to do it as I go. I actually have limited soldering experience(junior high school?) and didnt know anything about IC chips or RCs before this project, but I will have it all figured out by the time this is done.



Ok Ive added the transistor arrays and resistors. Now I just need to wire them together and it will be done.


Anybody know of an octal pnp transistor array? I cant find the TD62784 or 2981 ic chips so Ive settled for the TD62783 which is really optimized for 5V not 12-13V

[Special_Edy]

Ok so here is an update, because I dont have to tell you how long it takes to wire that cleanly.
Right now I have 100 solders left(a fraction of what Ive done so far) because all I have to do is connect the two 50 pin IDE cables from the turn signal and parking lamp boards to the LED board. Then I can test fire it up and troubleshoot if necessary.





Oh and like I said guys we will see what happens with the 12v CMOS chips driving the 5v TTL chips that are relays. My hands are tied in that these are the only style IC chips I could source.

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Dec 14, 2012 - 1:19 AM

[smkr3w]

Holy wiring Batman! Looks great

Hope it works like planned!

[broderp]

Ok so here is an update, because I dont have to tell you how long it takes to wire that cleanly.
Right now I have 100 solders left(a fraction of what Ive done so far) because all I have to do is connect the two 50 pin IDE cables from the turn signal and parking lamp boards to the LED board. Then I can test fire it up and troubleshoot if necessary.


Oh and like I said guys we will see what happens with the 12v CMOS chips driving the 5v TTL chips that are relays. My hands are tied in that these are the only style IC chips I could source.

I may be wrong, but 12V CMOS driving 5V TTL may not be a very good idea. Without looking at the schematic you came up with, the 12V can either drive the crap out of TTL and burn them up. It could be instantly or maybe after a short while.

Can the 5V TTL contacts handle the 12V and currents assosoiated with it? (You say they are acting as relays) If so, then all you would need to do is make a small 12V to 5V power supply to power the TTL chips with the correct voltage. An LM7805 should do the trick. Just be sure to add a few filter caps to control ripple and transient voltages.


If this link works, its a simple circuit to step down 12V to 5V: You need to be sure what your 5v current draw is as well, you don't want to exceed the circuits capability.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view...umb=ygsGC3CfBsv

[Special_Edy]

@ broderp-
Yeah all the chips are on the same power supply(the battery/alternator). The TTL chips can handle 12volts easy, but they are sloppy about input and output voltage thresholds where the cmos are much more precise.
But in a stroke of luck my LEDs are hooked up with a common power not a common ground. So I used 2804 NPN chips to amplify the current. All of my IC chips are now cmos(military grade too )



@ everyone else-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDN5kraOko...eature=youtu.be
Here is a video of my first working prototype.



I think next I will focus on building some led high mount brake lights while I redesign the turn signal circuitry.
I want the board shaped to fit the housing better with more animations for the LEDs and detactable IDE cables instead of a mess of wires.

So give me some ideas on the animations or sequences, what I need here is feedback!

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Dec 20, 2012 - 2:10 AM

[Tigawoods]

progressing very well!

An animation I am curious to see is a full horizontal row animation. with full rows falling downwards

[smkr3w]

Awesome!
Even though you haven't gotten into production phase I'm super excited.

So give me some ideas on the animations or sequences, what I need here is feedback!

What if you had dual running light strips.. and kept white running lights on while the sequential fading turns were activated like this:



Seems like that would be a lot of work?? just an idea though.

[richee3]

Any update?

[Special_Edy]

I havent fooled with it lately, but I was thinking earlier today that I needed to order some components now that I have my tax return. Im going to get some red LEDs since a couple of people have requested it, Im going to order a few thousand brighter clear 5mms, and I'd like to order some 10mm clears just to try it out(seems like all the car manufacturers use them).
My celica has been sitting waiting for an engine(Im waiting for a good 1mz/2gr donor to come along) but Im definately going to start fooling around with the LEDs again in the coming weeks.

[Special_Edy]

And I ordered a variety of led bulbs to try some other things out.

[mgnt232]

want one lol. you thinking of making them for the community? aka me

[Special_Edy]

Made this GT-4 one today, guess this means I need to start selling them since I'm making ones I couldnt use on my st204.







And a few others-









Any suggestions? Requests? I'm thinking of selling these for $30 shipped for simple ones like the kind with words and $50 shipped for the board with the full 97 leds. Of course for the ones with words you could get whatever you wanted so long as it will fit. I cant find a connector to plug into the oem lightbulb socket so for now you have to splice the LED into the socket's wiring. The socket has its own short harness so it is easily replaceable if your queesy about fooling with wires.

Let me know!

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: May 14, 2013 - 2:41 PM

[ILoveMySilly97]

That's awesome! I was wandering if you know where I can get clear 3rd brake light with red bulb/led? If you do make some like that. I'd be interested.

[JoshuaM]

Looks great! And I think there will be a fair bit of interest in them.

My only suggestion would be to try scrapping the lines at the top and bottom of the I in Celica, and lay it out as it is on the badge - that would allow for better spacing between the letters too. IMHO it looks a little weird / lopsided with it as it is (just my opinion)

[Box]

Can you make one that says "GET BACK" or "BACK OFF" etc... Those would be useful.

[BonzaiCelica]

The ones that say toyota and celica look good. The g on gt4 isnt legible. Making these with clear plastic and putting as man led lights as possible like the way the 94-02 supra looks like is ideal!

[Red123]

wow
very nice. I want a "celica" brake light. If you'll sell it, please pm the price.

[mgnt232]

yes start selling id buy. like the idea of the clear marker too