# integrated helmet light



## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey mtbr folks,

Could you guys have a look at this new helmet I have built and give me some feed back.

Thanks!


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Hi Remus1 and welcome .

The idea is cool the work you have done is cool there is one downside I had pointed out to me when I discussed a similar thing a while ago 

the helmet is for your protection and is partially destroyed in a crash so you would not want the nuggets with the p7s in impacting into your skull .

other than that I like the idea


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey Troutie,
Thanks for the comment. Your definitely correct about not wanting daggers of alluminum in your skull. This shell is extremely tough. I haven't yet crashtested it to see how the frame performs but my suspision is that the foam will do all of the decelleration before the aluminum fails. I do need to better address the protrusion to which the LED mounts to with better more gradual faring (tapering of the edge).


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

Double post.


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

Hey I like that!!
Did you make the helmet yourself too??


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

yes. I've had to buy and learn to use a tig welder to make this helmet. I do still have to crash test it to see what is the appropriate shape so that it doesn't break in a crash. 
I've already filed a provisional pattent and will be submitting a formal patent within the month.

Just a side comment- I actually crashed while wearing this helmet and had a mild concussion on 8/11/2009. The helmet did a great job of protecting my head. The foam crushed in and cracked in a few spots but my aluminum shell barely bent. The one thing I see much more clearly after my accident yesterday is that this aluminum shell has to be strong enough on every side in order that it won't buckle upon impact. In my acident yesterday, I was riding on short stretch of old road that has RR tracks embedded in it. My "trick" for riding over tracks is to pop my front wheel over the near track to the middle then pop my front wheel again over the far track. Unfortunately, yesterday I popped over the near track and onto the far track which was wet and SLICK. I faceplanted onto the concrete and don't remember much else.  

I'll post a photo of the post-wreck helmet.

Thanks


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## znomit (Dec 27, 2007)

A helmet that is totally wrecked in an accident and leaves your head intact has worked perfectly.

Are they metal bezels? If so I'd switch to plastic. 4 XPEs on polymer optics would make a good lightweight unit and still put out 700lm. Maybe punchier than the P7s too.


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## sdnative (Aug 10, 2008)

Cool idea, practicalities aside. 

You should put some huge aluminum shark cooling fins on it though. That'd be fricken awesome ...would have at least got more style points on that crash landing. Ouch!

Lol, seriously though. Cabon will conduct heat pretty good if you orient the fibers in the direction of desired heat conduction.

Anyway ...welcome to mtbr, good to see some new topics, and keep up the posting!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey SDnative, thanks get well wishes. It really does suck having a broken humerus on my dominant hand! LOL on the shark fins. I'm more determined than ever now to build the worlds SAFEST and brughtest head light. Thanks for the tip on the carbon- I'll have to look into it. 
Cool DIY website by-the-way. You should see about promoing it more- I'll bet you could do great. Best of luck.

Patrick


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey znomit,

The way I've built this helmet is by forming the entire shell out of aluminum. I've simply built up spots at the base of the front vents which serve as mounts for bare emitters. The optics all are removable and will have to to avoid any grabbing onto the ground (or whatever else you may slam your head into in a crash). The consumer safty folks have strict parameters on what they call non-fared surfaces and the extent to which these types of helmet parts can project above the surface of the helmet (and rightly so ). 

The helmet that I posted in my youtube video and proceeded to crash the very next day had the LEDIL reflectors just taped on to keep them in place. All but one broke away in my crash. 

My plan is to build snap in optics that can be removed by the wearer during daytime use and replaced by covers that protect the emitters.

As for the helmet protecting my head- thank God it did! As soon as I get my arm out of this sling I plan to start building some different shaped shells and slamming them in to things to make sure they are safe for impacts from all directions. I happened to hit face first on the smallest radius part of my helmet and it did its job only because the aluminum didn't buckle. As great as this helmet does at lighting my way it has to be even better at getting me through a crash.
Thanks for the comment.


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

znomit,

I'm new to posting on sites like this and accidently posted a reply to you in the wrong place. It's down in SDnatives post. Sorry.


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## zemike (Sep 3, 2007)

I have read somewhere that the best helmet design is the one which mimics the human head - a soft shell on top of a hard substructure and the soft shell can move (like flesh on the skull) in a impact to absorb the impact energy.


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## sdnative (Aug 10, 2008)

Hey, sorry about making wise cracks ...didn't realize you got busted up so bad. Best of luck healing.

On the website, thanks, you couldn't imagine the work it takes to make things like that happen....still more left too!

I have an article coming out in Mountain Bike Action Magazine next month (Oct issue), "Lighting Your own Way". Been wrapping up the loose ends, promoting is next, as it's really a full time job in it's own right.

A link for carbon apps http://www.ledsmagazine.com/products/18728 but lots out there to read up on. It conducts lengthwise, along the fiber. Conduction is poor across the fiber, as this relies on thermal characteristics of the epoxy.

May be a solution for my own lights, as there is a serious heat transfer bottle neck at the led die when you're after peak performance. Copper just doesn't cut it even.


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

sdnative said:


> Hey, sorry about making wise cracks ...didn't realize you got busted up so bad. Best of luck healing.
> 
> On the website, thanks, you couldn't imagine the work it takes to make things like that happen....still more left too!
> 
> ...


Hey SDnative, Yeah I really had my bell rung pretty good. My shoulder has taken me off my bike for the rest of the Summer- big bummer. I did some web snooping on carbon as a heat sink for leds and it sounds like it's not quite there as a substitute for aluminum. Carbon nanotubes are the top in terms of conducting heat but it seams to me that the real question is what to do with the heat once it's been moved. I found very little on Raheama on the internet. If that stuff does what it sounds like it is meant to do, you sould be able to mix it into plastic and make an led heatsink in any shape you please. The one thing I didn't see though is what the specific heat numbers were for these carbon compounds. It seems to me that for a substance to serve as an led heat sink iy will have to both move the heat away from the led and radiate it away fast enough to keep the whole apparatus within the operating parameters of the led. Do you know of any place I can read more on this?
Thanks


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

I have done quite a bit of refining on this design and put in a single sst-90 (1500 to 2000 lumen output) led. Is there anyone interested in me posting new video or pics?


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## odtexas (Oct 2, 2008)

There are probably a few hundred here who would like to see what you have been up to.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

remus1 said:


> I have done quite a bit of refining on this design and* put in a single sst-90 (1500 to 2000 lumen output) led.* *Is there anyone interested in me posting new video or pics?*


*
*

*Anything* done with an SST-90 or 50 for that matter, I WANT TO SEE....


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

+1 for me


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## flyingpig (Apr 28, 2009)

Remus1, I like the idea of putting the lights on the helmet a lot, and yours look a lot snazzier than what I was thinking of (putting a couple of 1-xpg holders in a couple of the vent holes). 

That said, I hope you get better soon and have no lasting damage. Unfortunately, adding a hard shell to the outside of your helmet, without modifying the interior padding significantly, makes it much less protective in a crash. The plastic shell on a conventional helmet doesn't do a thing; it's just there for looks. The real protection is in the hard foam. In an impact, the crushing of the foam absorbs a lot of energy - energy that then won't get passed on to your skull. 

By putting a hard shell on the outside, you distribute the impact force across the foam interior. This means that the foam won't crush. Unfortunately, that means that all that energy gets passed on to your skull and brain. Your skull won't get deformed, but your brain will get a good bounce around the inside of it!

To make a hard-shell helmet work, you'd need a lot more compressible foam on the inside of the shell, to decelerate your skull more slowly. If you have any SCAers around you, take a look inside one of their helmets. One of their helmets typically weighs in the region of 10-15 lbs, and they only have people hitting them with sticks. A sudden stop from 25mph has a lot more energy.

OK, nanny-mode off. Have fun tinkering, and keep the rubber-side down!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Hey mountain bikers. I have just finished working out quite a few bugs with a new project (including the patent process) and will be posting photos soon. It is an integrated helmet light that uses two sst-90 leds and a heat pipe cooloing system that weighs a total of about 75 grams total. I haven't really worked out the electronics for driving this beast but for now I'm using the h6flex from task led and batteries from battery space. the run time on high (around 2500 to 3000 lumens) is about 1.5 to 2 hours. I have yet to try running it in the warmer air of spring and summer nights. IT'S REALLY BRIGHT!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

sorry for all the type-o's in the lest post but I'm two and 1/2 glasses of wine into friday night date night with my wife.


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## larlev (Feb 22, 2009)

I like that idea a lot.....


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

remus1 said:


> sorry for all the type-o's in the lest post but I'm two and 1/2 glasses of wine into friday night date night with my wife.


Must be going well Remus if you're here posting on this forum :thumbsup:


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## b-kul (Sep 20, 2009)

not pretty but very cool!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

*photos of new helmet*

sorry for the delay. These are a couple of photos of the first 2x sst90 light. I have another almost ready that is full carbon and a bit more elegantly arranged. I'll post it and a bunch of beamshots late next week.

Patrick


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

photos


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## Itchiee (Sep 17, 2010)

Very Doc Brown'ish! Keep up the great work.

Perhaps make the lights breakaway style so on potential impact they will go the other way. Or increase the area under the lights with more absorbing materials. Anyway very cool!!!!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

Itchiee said:


> Very Doc Brown'ish! Keep up the great work.
> 
> Perhaps make the lights breakaway style so on potential impact they will go the other way. Or increase the area under the lights with more absorbing materials. Anyway very cool!!!!


Hey Itchiee,

1.21 Gigawatts!!!!!


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

*comparison beam shots*

These are shots of three different lights for comparison. The dimmest is a hand-held torch with a cree xre driven with 900 milliamps. The second brightest is three cree xre's driven and 1.9 amps (it's the photo with the hottest spot due to use of lenses). The third photo is of the integrated helmet light with two sst-90's driven at 4 amps. All the photos are with a crappy little canon powershot set on the same speed and shutter (kind of hazy coz it's sleating here in Chattanooga now). Let me know what you think. Thanks


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## remus1 (Aug 7, 2009)

*beam shots*

I forgot to add that the tree house is 60 ot 70 feet away.


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