UCBeacon

We need a new beacon to identify a campsite in a dark location, so it needs to be more subtle than the previous Burning Man-oriented designs.

Project Status

• 2016-09: Bought a kit to make silicone parts, the ring of SatinIce acrylic is way too thin-walled to be useful, so going to try to make it out of platinum silicone instead.
• 2016-09-07: Hackvana PCB price (all USD): green soldermask 5 boards $71, 10 boards $100, black soldermask 5 boards $98, 10 boards $127.
• 2016-09-06: Completed checklist and CAM, sent quote request to Hackvana as this will be >$200 just for PCBs at OSH Park, so need to find elsewhere to get them done.
• 2016-08-27: Added silkscreen and started checklist run.
• 2016-08-22: Completed routing board, need to do silk and checklist.
• 2016-08-17: Completed schematic checklist, added USB power option, started working on routing the PCB.
• 2016-08-04: Completed the schematic, pending checklist.
• 2016-08-03: Completed the charging section, last major section left is the power supply.
• 2016-08-02: Started putting basic schematic and BOM together.
• 2016-06-13: Ordered a 12" section of 8" diameter SatinIce acrylic tube to use for the ring.
• 2016-06-12: Started looking at how to source the acrylic for the LED ring.
• 2016-06-04: Started talking about a need for this and thinking about designs.

Overview

• Small portable-ish unit that can sit on top of the trailer at camp.
• LED ring like on ParkAssist lights, but all RGB
• Round solar panel inside ring to power it?
  • Turns out to be hard to find, so may not be able to do this
• LT3652 solar charging IC
• 2x 18500 LiFePo4 cylindrical batteries in parallel
• Remote control to go from "subtle help-us-find-camp beacon" to a brighter mode, or disable when not at camp
• Arduino-compatible, based on ATMega328P
• On at dusk and off at dawn based on solar panel voltage rather than a separate sensor
• Need to think about weatherproofing and drainage since it will get rained on and the ring design would otherwise trap water

Gallery

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  First concept model of UCBeacon, before switching ring to silicone.