S1 LED Rear lights interest?

[30405]

Hello one and all!

Following some of the kind words about my custom S1 rear light project and figuring I'll need something to-do over the winter that isn't entirely wedding related I want to get some ideas from interested parties (if there are any) on price, format & demand.

Below is a WIP demo I took while assembling them.



This is the first revision I've been testing. I have a few internal alterations I'm working on to increase quality and ease of production.

The circles are 6 red angel eye's and their pattern can be altered as part of construction. I choose outside and inside for running with the 4 middles for breaking as it's very noticeable.

The LED's are programable here's a shot taken in direct sunlight at Go Japan.

36f3cb78af5a8682ec3561e618e87c1e.jpg

3e296ff310c28d24c22dc635446e04ad.jpg

They use a Robotdyn Mega-2560-pro-embed-ch340g controller in each light meaning they are easy to program and have a lot of room for expansion. Due to the nature of the controller being an Arduino clone there's loads online about how to code them and I'm using the very accessible fastled library to help create the animations.

I've created an excel sheet to help with designing static images.

RX8 light spreadsheet.JPG

The design in the video above is entirely my own choosing. Each of the 353 LEDs (per light) is a full RGB individually addressable LED meaning you can choose the colour, brightness and Hue.

They are wired into the car entirely independently of the cars loom. Power is run from the battery (via a relay and fuse) to the rear. There its split between 2 dc buck converters from 12V down to 5V with 20A output.

indicator, reverse, running and break lights signals are taken from the lights old bulb holders so no loom modification is required.

As part of the next revision the internal structure is changing to better follow the flow of the lens. I'm also looking at removing the USB cables and making them programmable wirelessly. This will also enable the ability to interface with the controller via a phone/tablet.

These currently haven't been through an MOT but after seeing them running at Go Japan in direct sunlight I cant see why they wouldn't. Any members that saw them at Go Japan please weigh in on the viewability.

Cost would comedown to format and volume. Once I've gauged interest I can start putting money values to each option with bulk buying discounts.

Cheapest :- Partially assembled internals kit. This would require the purchaser to cut their own sourced (or current rear lights), fit the internals, seal, tint and wire the car.

Middle :- I source lights and construct. The purchaser would still need to wire the car and swap the lights over.

Middle + :- Same as middle but arrangements are made for a trader (if they are happy to) or myself to wire the car and install.

Expensive :- I source a volume of lights and cut them so they can be used for mold's and recast the lens in https://www.benam.co.uk/products/plasti ... lear-resin (can be tinted during casting) and the backing plates in another suitable plastic/resin, fit the internals, seal using silicone or another material the same as the front headlights. + fitting and wiring arrangements.

So basic costs to start giving you an idea what i've spent prototyping. These are approx. Depending on volume I would expect these to come down.

Set of rear lights :- ebay - £40 - £ 70 a set
Angel Eyes :- £90 for a set of each size 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110
WS2812B LED strip :- £60
L7805CV voltage regulators X 10 :- £10
40A fuse and holder :- £5
Wire :- £40
Mild steel sheet 0.8x500x1000mm :- £18
DC buck converters X2 :- £20
Robotdyn Mega-2560-pro-embed-ch340g X2 :- £20
Tint material :- £20
USB cables :- £10
relay and holder :- £10
nuts and bolts :- £4
silicone :- £10
Soldering bits :- £5
ancillaries :- £10
new gaskets :- £10

There's other bits I'm probably forgetting. But this gives you an idea of £412 excluding labour. That's including the lights at £70 and assuming they come with bulb holders.

Ideally with bulk buying I'd like to see the material cost come down to £300 then I would outsource tinting as I'm crap at it. There's also my labour so probably about £500 - £600 to make up a set at the middle price range.

Depending on volume the more expensive option could work out coming down to the middle option as initial tooling wouldn't be cheap but the off set of not needing a whole set of lights set may balance out.

Thoughts?

[30405]

well....

in my notably impoverished opinion....

its cool, but not £500 cool...

sorry

[SAS]

I think these look fantastic and would happily pay £500-£600 for them.

[New Duke]

If I had an S1 I'd happily pay that for this. They're so cool.
I hope you get enough interest to make it viable.

[Ranjan]

John,

That is a work of art, gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous
If I still had that devil I would love those, well worth the £s.
Good luck with them; try facebook.

Ranjan.

[GreySilver Beast]

Would be brilliant for traffic jams when you got drives sitting right on your tail

[30405]

Something like this Nigel?

Spoiler:

[30405]

John,

That is a work of art, gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous
If I still had that devil I would love those, well worth the £s.
Good luck with them; try facebook.

Ranjan.

Happy to look at something for the MX5 Ranjan. If you can stand to have the extra few grams of weight.

[Ranjan]

John,

That is a work of art, gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous
If I still had that devil I would love those, well worth the £s.
Good luck with them; try facebook.

Ranjan.

Happy to look at something for the MX5 Ranjan. If you can stand to have the extra few grams of weight.

John,
YES YES

Make me something completely bespoke, go for it. You have a sale.

Ranjan.

[SmuttyHutty]

Now these are pretty...

[Ryan Rotary Performance]

Now these are pretty...

I do like the look of these; a bit like the BMW LCI lights on my M240

[30405]

Got some thermoplastic on the way to help create some effects like that for the mx5 set I'm making.

It's all very experimental at the moment though.

I didn't do it on my set so I can change layouts as I choose. Yet... MK2 is still being worked on.

Sent from my IN2013 using Tapatalk

[Delanor]

What about these RX-8 LED tail lamps

img-974_Jaemeson - Rx8-24.jpg

Only 135,000 Yen - yours inc shipping for only £1,070 but not including UK pound of flesh - group buy anyone?

*
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Del.

[30405]

They are why I'm sat here pulling my hair out trying to get code working!

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[30405]

These are glorious. Not my kinda style as I prefer an OEM-esque look, but they are mega.

Won't be for everyone at that price, but I reckon you'd sell a few sets.