Beacon2

Beacon2 is a lighted beacon that will be used on top of a flag pole at Burning Man 2010, to help us locate our camp (and be blinkie and flashy).

Project Status

Basic design work and BOM assembly started.

Design Overview/Ideas

• Enclosure will be a CD spindle likely, as it's a good shape and easy to work with.
• Each layer board will have 10 LEDs around the perimeter (every 36deg).
• Multiple layer boards will stack together to add a vertical component to the image.
• Boards will communicate via I²C.
• The whole assembly will be solar charged, using NiMH batteries.
  • Needs to intelligently charge, not like the garden lights do (trickle).
  • Needs to last all night! Last year's beacon was mostly out by 0200.
• Boards will use the ATmega644P/V chip.
  • Means we can use the Arduino/Sanguino bootloader.