So I am a firefighter and where I live we respond in our POV to the hall and sometimes to the scene. We use green flashing lights to mark our vehicles as emergency vehicles on the way to the trucks. Now there are plenty of cheap off the shelf options for green flashers but they are extremely unpleasant to use for instance if I am responding I might use a wig wag fast and slow flash as it’s very attention getting while still not overwhelming drivers maybe they aren’t getting the message now I want a fast intense flash that ideally is actuated by a momentary switch so it can be briefly pushed for more attention. Now once on scene I might be parked beside the road or even on it now I want a flash pattern indicating which way traffic should move. Now maybe I’m at an accident or aid call and my truck is off to the side and I’m not the first truck the traffic will see so I just want an energy conserving brief flash and long pause so as to aware vehicles that my truck is there (we have a lot of trouble with traffic at night) while not cluttering the scene with random light. The last mode is a general response and usually combines all of these except the energy saving one and would cycle through them. All of these modes exist on most cheap light setups the problem is there’s usually 20+ options and you have to cycle through every one of them to get to the one you need. Simply not feasible while driving at speed and communicating on a radio while busy looking for and remembering addresses not to mention you can’t really see what your lights are doing anyway. Soooo here’s my idea and I’ll preface by saying I’m skilled in ac and dc wiring and have some very basic experience coding however I’m a little out of my depth here.
My lights have a steady burn mode where they are always on which would allow me to control them with relays to create patterns. I would like to have each pattern actuated by a button or as is common with emergency lights a button pad with both momentary and on/off capability. How would I go about programming this. My main issue is figuring out complex patterns as simple 2 light alternating is very easy but I need to run complicated patterns. Here’s some examples
Example 1
4 lights front of the vehicle
X pattern bottom left top right flash same time then bottom right top left. Repeat 4 times then
With very short delays Bottom left flash, top right flash, bottom right flash, top left flash repeat at speed 4 times bottom left and right flash then top left and right flash.
Example 2
Front and rear energy save
4 lights back 4 lights front they are mirrored so will only describe one
4 lights back
Bottom left flash fast essentially ping then medium delay bottom right same medium delay repeat top then long delay.
Example 3
Momentary activation
Ultra fast flash alternating x pattern then ultra fast wig wag( left right)
These modes would need to be activated by a button press on/off for most of them momentary for one or two
Those are just examples and I can adjust and add more options once I get the feel for this
I am new to python but would like to use it. Have coded some simple light flashes in the past and other simple code.
Another reason I want to do this is most of the lights will sync with each other for up to two lights but any more thanks that and the synchronization gets out of control and appears random or odd. This will allow me to choose what each light does and set up pairs.
Would mosfets? be a better option for switching than relays. They are not super heavy draw lights but I have more experience with relays.
Thanks for any help I can get
My lights have a steady burn mode where they are always on which would allow me to control them with relays to create patterns. I would like to have each pattern actuated by a button or as is common with emergency lights a button pad with both momentary and on/off capability. How would I go about programming this. My main issue is figuring out complex patterns as simple 2 light alternating is very easy but I need to run complicated patterns. Here’s some examples
Example 1
4 lights front of the vehicle
X pattern bottom left top right flash same time then bottom right top left. Repeat 4 times then
With very short delays Bottom left flash, top right flash, bottom right flash, top left flash repeat at speed 4 times bottom left and right flash then top left and right flash.
Example 2
Front and rear energy save
4 lights back 4 lights front they are mirrored so will only describe one
4 lights back
Bottom left flash fast essentially ping then medium delay bottom right same medium delay repeat top then long delay.
Example 3
Momentary activation
Ultra fast flash alternating x pattern then ultra fast wig wag( left right)
These modes would need to be activated by a button press on/off for most of them momentary for one or two
Those are just examples and I can adjust and add more options once I get the feel for this
I am new to python but would like to use it. Have coded some simple light flashes in the past and other simple code.
Another reason I want to do this is most of the lights will sync with each other for up to two lights but any more thanks that and the synchronization gets out of control and appears random or odd. This will allow me to choose what each light does and set up pairs.
Would mosfets? be a better option for switching than relays. They are not super heavy draw lights but I have more experience with relays.
Thanks for any help I can get
Statistics: Posted by Gavin20 — Wed Sep 11, 2024 4:22 am