Blue Robotics’ Lumen lights can be modified to use other LEDs. We have modified several sets for different colors, including Deep Red for marine biology customers.
While altering the inductor or otherwise tweaking the circuit will be required in some cases, for the below deep red LED module, it is not necessary (but you’re pushing the current pretty high). We found using a 0.5mm Silicon thermal pad necessary on the from on the LED module (COB) in order to get enough heat out. A think application of thermal paste could work though. Jumper wires weer soldered in place to connect the pads. If there’s another module you’d like to see please let us know.
Thanks guys, that’s really interesting. So it’s just a matter of swapping the white LED out and soldering jumpers to the contacts on the new star? Along with some sort of heat sink solution.
Hello Eliot. Yes, the red makes it the Terminator of the ROV world.
Red doesn’t propagate nearly as well as blue, but it doesn’t attenuate as fast as you’d think. The real reason it is used has to do with a lot of marine life having little to no ability to see deep red. This particular system is for researching squid primarily.
For the most part, if the LED can handle the current/voltage the Lumen board can supply, then you can try it in the circuit. I would NOT put a 20mA rated, 1.2V Red LED or it would likely work only once. Blue Robotics are kind enough to supply the schematic on Github (link under technical details on the Lumen page). If you look at the datasheet for the driver IC, it’s easy enough to adjust the parameters if required.
Hello Dean. You will have to de-solder the old LED PCB and then carefully mount the new Chip On Board (COB) LED module. I used two short lengths of solid 16AWG copper wire to attach to the pads. Please see the photo below where one wire has been soldered in place. Note the height of the original Blue Robotics LED board and match it closely. I have a link below also to the thermal pad used.
