A high powered LED-deck prototype

As some of you may have noticed, the current LED-ring deck doesn’t play nice with the Crazyflie 2.1 Brushless. The culprit? A resource clash between the DSHOT motor signals and the WS2812 LED driver used for the LED-ring.

But good news! We’re prototyping a new LED deck that solves the conflict by switching to I2C communication. Not only does this fix the compatibility issue, it also gives us a chance to improve its features. Here’s what we’ve improved so far:

  • Using a highly efficient high powered LED
  • DC/DC driving circuitry to improve LED driving efficiency
  • 1W on each channel (red, green, blue, white)
  • LEDs on both sides so it can be mounted both on top or on bottom of the Crazyflie
LED-deck mounted underneath a Crazyflie 2.1 brushless
LED-deck with a 3D-printed diffuser mounted underneath the Crazyflie 2.1 brushless

The LED we’re using is very powerful and the light is emitted from a small area, so a light diffuser is needed to get a more pleasant light. Designing something that can be manufactured is the next step of the project. Make sure to follow our blog to get more updates on this project.

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