New LED Lighting Fixture Design

[chippwalters]

Some of you may be familiar with some sketches I've been doing on Pico Reef tank designs at:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=280360

 

Turns out there are no lighting fixtures for Ecoxotic Panorama Pro LED fixtures for small tanks, or for the newly released stunners which come in longer lengths. This got me thinking there should be a 'modular light fixture kit' which could work for a variety of tanks, both big and small. Here's a first try at this. Please let me know what you think. If there's enough interest I may want to try and KickStart this one.

 

 

 

 

1. The fixture hood and arm lifts UP clearing the stop on the tank braket (10) and rotates back for access to the tank.
   
2. End caps would need to be premade to fixture width. Shown is a 2 width, 12" Panorma setup. You could also create caps for 4 wide and 8 wide as well. If injection mold tooling is too expensive, they could be stamped or machined for different sizes.
   
3. Front and back anodized aluminum extrusions are actually the same part. They can of course be cut to whatever length is desired for lamp. On longer lamps, it might be a good idea to have a two arm setup.
   
4. Extruded heat sink in whatever width desired runs the length of the lamp. Width is a function of the number of bulbs wide. This also could be a single width extrusion with interlocking joints, so only one extrusion tool is needed. Holes in the top of the heat sink will need to be predrilled for cable route.
   
5. Injection molded cap covers the heat sink cable hole and provides a structural attachment for the elbow. Cap extends a number of inches into the elbow. It is shown completely closed, but could extend outwards another 2".
   
6. Elbow is hollow steel tube with 90 degree bend applied. It goes completely down into the bottom arm cap (8)
   
7. Upper arm sleeve is used to lock down on the bracket tab keeping the arm assembly from rotating outwards. (see 1 and 2 in figure below). It also has thumbscrews for adjustment of lamp height.
   
8. Bottom arm cap is attached to tank bracket at hinge point and provides housing for elbow tube as well as routes the cables out the back.
   
9. Two standard dimension Panoramo Pro units fit comfortably in this configuration.
   
10. Tank bracket slides over back of tank and has four thumbscrews to fit it securely.
    

 

[iDream]

tl;dr for me, but that thing looks slick! For the right price I'd be all about buying something slick like that.

 

Personally though I'd look into making your own fixture like that instead of using the panorama pros.

[Trick]

looks nice. Can you make a super slim minimalistic fixture design?

[castiel]

Looks really good! Usable light fixtures like this are hard to come by, so I think you are on to something. But doesn't leave much room for the filter/pump area. How would the tank overall look? It's great to see a tank and a light, but how about heater, pump, filter media, thermometer, etc? I think you need some thought on that side (like your AIO and HOB designs).

[sammy113]

Sir, you have some serious designing/representation skills. Just saw the other thread with the sketches and being an architect myself, blew my mind keep it up

[castiel]

This CAD setup looks similar/interesting - couldn't find much about it online though: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=280806&hl=

[chippwalters]

looks nice. Can you make a super slim minimalistic fixture design?

 

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question? The goal was to create a very slim canopy, so as to reinforce the slim lines of the Panorama Pro modules. And by having the heat sink directly on the top, the modules could easily dissipate heat upwards, without a fan.

 

Looks really good! Usable light fixtures like this are hard to come by, so I think you are on to something. But doesn't leave much room for the filter/pump area. How would the tank overall look? It's great to see a tank and a light, but how about heater, pump, filter media, thermometer, etc? I think you need some thought on that side (like your AIO and HOB designs).

 

This design could be easily modified so the arm was left or right, rather than centered. IMO, the arm could also be thinner for Picos.

 

Sir, you have some serious designing/representation skills. Just saw the other thread with the sketches and being an architect myself, blew my mind keep it up

 

Much thanks. Sketches done on my iPad, 3D in SketchUp, renders in KeyShot.

 

This CAD setup looks similar/interesting - couldn't find much about it online though: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=280806&hl=

 

Wow. Very nice. That aquarium look a bit like mine! I wonder where they found it. I haven't been able to locate another one like it on the Internet. And the lighting is interesting. Still, for my setup (3.5 gallon rounded glass corners), I think I want a single Panorama 50/50 and a Blue Stunner strip. Just need to find a fixture for both!

[adinsxq]

dunno man. looks like something i'd find at home depot. maybe it's the knobs or orange/black that's throwing me off. (not trying to be a jerk, really.)

 

you also need a way for the light to be adjustable, forward & back. that's the first complaint I noticed with the new AI. on a larger tank, it might be sitting to far back... on a smaller, too far forward.

[chippwalters]

dunno man. looks like something i'd find at home depot. maybe it's the knobs or orange/black that's throwing me off. (not trying to be a jerk, really.)

 

you also need a way for the light to be adjustable, forward & back. that's the first complaint I noticed with the new AI. on a larger tank, it might be sitting to far back... on a smaller, too far forward.

 

Well, I did search Home Depot AND Lowes looking for anything that would work, but to no avail. Maybe you could link me a pic of a fixture you think is well designed?

 

The shade does move in and out, forward and back, but only a couple of inches. It's a friction fit. See point 5 above. I'm thinking a nice option would be no arm and instead rails on the right left of the tank which the canopy part of the fixture could rest on.

[supernip]

tl;dr. is this especially for your tank or are you mass producing? and are you custom making this or gutting a fixture or something? can I get a synopsis? I have adhd

[chippwalters]

tl;dr. is this especially for your tank or are you mass producing? and are you custom making this or gutting a fixture or something? can I get a synopsis? I have adhd

 

It's a concept design. Sorta like a concept car design. The idea is to spur the imagination and elicit feedback. It needs refinement, so I'm looking for some critical thinking and comments. I'll be working on V2. At some point, hopefully, the design can Kickstart.

[supernip]

right yeah but in practical terms, are you making this? for sales or your own personal pico? Do you have the manufacturing capabilities?

 

or is this more of a mental exercise?

[DaveFason]

Shot you a PM back. When our powers combined

 

-Dave

[chippwalters]

right yeah but in practical terms, are you making this? for sales or your own personal pico? Do you have the manufacturing capabilities?

 

or is this more of a mental exercise?

 

Currently it's still in concept. In this day and age, anyone can 'have manufacturing capabilities' assuming a product is designed correctly. But, my goal is not to single-handedly manufacture a light fixture, but rather to team up with others to create a scalable design which is easy to build.

 

I guess that's a long way of saying I don't really know what will happen with this.

[rgh69]

Interesting design. How hard would it be to modify it for the following 6"x12" LED Board?

 

6x12 Light Engine

[karisma]

i really like it, and if Dave from nanobox is looking at it with you, something truly great may come of this. Im excited to see more of this design and actually move forward with production. i think id be in line to buy one.

[chippwalters]

Interesting design. How hard would it be to modify it for the following 6"x12" LED Board?

 

6x12 Light Engine

 

Interesting idea. I will look into that. Thanks for sharing.

[DaveFason]

Chipp,

Or these. A few I have.

[SolidState]

I think this is an excellent design. The devil is in the details now... can you get it built for less than 100k in start-up moneys - that would be the issue.

 

One design choice that could be problematic is that reliance on a slab of heat sinking material without fans to do the cooling. I think you really need some kind of circulating air (or some other medium) to insure that heat is being actively removed from the hood area.

 

The link sent to you above for the 6 x 12 inch module is my design. That board is less than half the weight and it's than likely thinner than a full aluminum heat sink based design.

 

 

You may also be wise to make several hood designs that all fit your arm concept. It's your arm concept that is more on the unique side.

[chippwalters]

Well, I've taken another pass on a Pico only enclosure design. There are no reef capable LED fixtures for Picos that I know of. The new version is setup for a single Ecoxotic Panoram Pro and two Stunners. This is not the final design, but there are some interesting features. Among them:

• This enclosure design is created totally by one off manufacturing techniques
  
• The drawings are currently being prototyped and the cost for the prototype is less than $200. I expect I can get it to around $100 (or maybe less) in production.
  
• The goal is to have zero tooling costs.
  
• Ecoxtic has seen this enclosure and have agreed to support it on their website.
  
• There is still heat and structural tests to be done in the prototype. I suspect I'll need to provide much more ventilation on the top.
  
• I still need to work out the particulars for adjusting the height and making it capable of working with tanks from 9" to 19" wide. I think I have good solutions for both.
  

 

Here are some of the pictures for this version:

 

Aluminum and Plastic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Aluminum Version:

 

 

[thadscottmoore]

nice! you have some serious talent!

[chippwalters]

Here's the latest design for the enclosure for my lighting. The first prototype is out getting built right now.. I'll post pics when I'm done. In this variation, I've decided to cut out the top area and lift it up. That Panorama is seriously hot-- and there's no fan, so I'm hoping I can keep it from heating up the tank too much.

 

Next, I'm working on a more flexible and configurable stand while also focusing on keeping costs down. I may also reduce this to a single Panorama Pro and Stunner configuration. It would make the whole thing less deep while still giving off ,entry of light for a Pico.

 

Also, I'm researching a way to automatically control small tank temperatures, as it seems it may be one of the hardest factors to manage in a Pico.

 

[chippwalters]

Hurray! Just got my very first part in from Shapeways-- it'a an Alumide end cap. Sweet. I'm so impressed with the texture and finish-- which was frankly my biggest worry. This things look superb! It was smaller than I envisioned and around $30 to make with free shipping. The same part in plastic part should be cheaper. Still, it looks great and it appears to be dimensionally accurate. I'm not sure about how brittle this is-- my wall thicknesses are pretty thin as you can see. I will have to see how it goes together. Still, just an amazing process. I can't imagine making an aluiminum based part this intricate for $30 with no tooling. Just amazing...

 

 

[castiel]

Very cool indeed! Did you just get that one part made?

[mmcguffi]

new design looks really cool, but personally I like the 'cobra style' fixture you had in the first sketch up

 

I really dont like lighting solutions that hover over the entirety of a tank like that

 

great idea though! any estimate on final cost if these were to go into production?