Design, construction and analysis of an LED strobe controller

Abstract

In this thesis, I describe an LED strobe controller that I designed and built. With the advent of much brighter LEDs, it is possible to create stroboscopes with both high intensity output and high maximum flash rates. Additionally, the proliferation of Wi-Fi enabled devices provokes the idea of a next-generation interface for tools in Strobe Lab. The initial goal was to produce an LED-based strobe that has sufficient light to replace existing flash tube stroboscopes. The final product combines three high powered LEDs with a microcontroller and Wi-Fi card. Users can adjust settings through a web based interface accessible from both laptops and mobile devices. In addition to the simple user interface, the controller is compatible with other equipment in Strobe Lab as it can be triggered by the commonly used methods. Established techniques, such as sync and delay, and newer techniques, such as color-encoded multi-flash images, are possible with this device.