Uncategorized – Page 3 – The Lumenique BLOG

Integrated 3D Printed Handheld Task Light

3D printing can be accomplished using single or multiple materials. The future of the process includes printing integrated circuits, optics, circuit pathways, heat sinks, fixture bodies and enclosures. Robotics, combined with 3D printing stations, can assemble entire products with no fasteners, no seams, and no human interaction, from a bin of raw materials.

The process involves setting up a series of 3D printers that feed into a main printer that is printing a body. At various stages, the printer is paused, and components are installed into cavities, before the printer continues. This can also include potting of cavities, as well as creating wiring vias and paths for conventional wires to pass through. The finished product would have no seams to leak, no intermediate gasketing to fail. It is an integrated assembly that used no glue or seaming of any type, making the final product durable.

This process can be repeated 24/7, with no staff present, other than to keep the material supplies loaded (also done with automation in the local area of the machine.) Customer orders can then move directly from order entry into the production que, with all available selectable options of color, optic, LED power level, CCT, control interface, etc… since the entire fixture is created from software to real world, with none of the conventional inventory of parts, components, etc… through to assembly operations.

A Simple Example to Illustrate the Process

The following is a design and process I created from raw fixture design to printed, in less than 24 hours.

Dear Fellow Creatives

Allow me to introduce myself in a way that a resume and LinkedIn profile is unable to. I offer the following brief illustrated run down of my career in 10 Acts. Sort of a Play of evolving interests that leads me to offering you a new resource. I hope you have a moment to enjoy this adventure as much as I have. Who knows, perhaps we might one day find ourselves on a shared path.

To start, I am an artist at heart, and have been for a very long time. My first punishment in grammar school was for using my imagination to color a birds in a manner the nuns did not appreciate. This, combined with other similar incidents of expressed independence, led to my being removed from Catholic school to be placed in a conventional grammar school where my “unique” approach would not present disrupt the order of the Rigid Penguin Queens.

I come from a background of a mother who was exceptionally talented in art, and a father who was an engineer and math professor, and a multi-generational family of entrepreneurs. My father showed me the way of being a professional adult, my mother the path to artistic expression. While this duality has afforded me insight into two worlds that rarely share the same space, it has suited me particularly well in lighting – which is why I spent so many years in the industry.

33 NPD Thoughts for Growing Companies

After several decades involvement in product design and development, I’ve accumulated a few basic ideas I believe are useful for small product manufacturer businesses looking to build NPD into a driver for future growth. I pulled together 33 thoughts, updated and collected into a small book for anyone interested. Each topic is described in less than 400 words to provide the reader insight without getting too deep into the academics of each one.

You can download a copy for your use below:

npd33-k.-willmorth Download

Finishing the Big TR6 Project

Finished TR6 Project, ready for final tune, polish up and alignment (by others)

A long time friend (and previous employer) decided it would be lovely to take his car apart and rebuild it from the ground up. I have witnessed my of these “projects” over the years – most end badly. Taking a car apart seems so easy. Just undo every fastener, and dump the parts that fall off into boxes – while tossing all those old rusty corroded nuts, screws, washers, broken little clips and pins into bins. When something is frozen up, beat it apart, or cut it, it’s all replaceable – right?

AM Technology in Lighting’s Future

3D Printing is actually a misnomer. In technical terms, we are talking about AM (additive manufacturing.) The process delivers a 3 dimensional object in plastic or metal, layer by layer. Unlike CNC machining, which is technically subtractive in nature (starts as a block of material that is whittled into shape), AM produces no chips or cut-off material, just the finished part.

Continue reading “AM Technology in Lighting’s Future”

A Common MacAdam Fail

The MacAdam ellipse is a Standard Deviation Color Matching (SDCM) protocol for describing visibility of human observers of differences of sources, by how far they deviate from a reference color. Each ellipse represents a standard deviation from the reference (center) source. It is generally accepted that within 3 MacAdam ellipses, most observers cannot discern a difference between two sources. At 4 steps, a significant sampling of observers would see a color difference. At 7, virtually everyone will see a difference. For a more complete background, there are numerous sources describing these details, such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacAdam_ellipse. The shape of the ellipses varies by color, as human visual differentiation changes in both spectral sensitivity as well as range between sources.

With this, it would seem pretty straightforward that when someone claims their product, LED, or light sources fall within 2 or 3 steps, that it can be assumed that the difference between two sources from that provider will be unseen. Unfortunately, a common miss-interpretation and incorrect application of the MacAdam ellipse protocol creates an actual deviation that can be as much as double that stated. The illustration below shows how this happens. Continue reading “A Common MacAdam Fail”

As One Adventure Ends, Another Begins

The Adventure with Architectural SSL Magazine

In 2006, I pitched the idea of a magazine dedicated to Solid-State lighting technology as it applies directly to architecture with the owners of Construction Business Media. After a few pizza lunches and more convincing, they moved to creation of Architectural SSL magazine in time for Lightfair 2007 with its debut issue.

Since that debut 12 years ago, I have participated in editorial discussion and planning, contributed content to every issue with a market setting feature, a closing remarks Op Ed, white papers, judeged products, provided reviews of various products and provided general commentary on the progress of SSL into the lighting market. Continue reading “As One Adventure Ends, Another Begins”

Bedroom Lighting for that Restful Sleep

Bedroom

The Great Blue Light Panic Keeping Some Folks Awake

If you read alarmist comments on the inter-webs about the dreaded “Blue Light Hazard”, you may come away thinking that your TV, tablet, phone, and LED bedside lights are depriving you of sleep. Yes, the spectral power content, including blue light, can produce amplified melatonin suppression that can indeed disrupt your ability to fall asleep. And, yes, LED lights and many LED based displays do produce blue light at the wavelengths of greatest concern. We’ve been all over this, and there have been thousands of other discussions on this everywhere, including in mainstream media – which for the most part get it all wrong. Continue reading “Bedroom Lighting for that Restful Sleep”

Tasca Test Mule Turns Two

The Tasca test mule turned 2 years in continual illuminated state this May. That’s 8,760 continuous operating hours in the cold, hot, and messy environment of the shop in which it lives. It gets abused as well, from tossing greasy rags over it to see what happens when airflow over the heat sink is cut off, to blowing coolant on it until it freezes. There have been several lessons learned in this time. For example, lumen depreciation, captured by measuring the fixture’s output, has been negligable. Losses have been less than 1.2% so far, which means the White Optics reflector and anti-reflective glass are doing their job, as is the Bridgelux ES Array LED. Temperature readings taken over this time have not changed anywhere, which indicates the internal construction attaching the thermal slug to the heat sink is durable and reliable. Continue reading “Tasca Test Mule Turns Two”

52 in 52 – Week Eight Design

The problem with revisiting something one created many years ago, is that the underlying inspiration or idea has been lost in the winds of change we all go through as we experience ife, the universe, and everything. In my case, I even have a hard time relating to how the original “thing” was even made, having forgot what tools I was using and how I made things before I surrounded myself with tools and doo-daddery.

In the case of this weeks rebuild project, I had thought that a quick trip into the garage, slam through a few pounds of metal and viola! Finished update. Yeah… right. To really get a handle on this thing took drawing the whole thing up in 3D, so I could work through the ideas and concepts without making a mess of things. In other words, this little remodel job has taken more effort than a virgin design – in that it has involved starting with a reverse engineering of the original, then design of new component within the limits of its design vocabulary.

After several days of design and iterative thinking, I think I finally have a plan to proceed. The rendering is where I ended up. I like the almost alien quality of this lamp, and its odd semi-architectural structure, so wanted to make sure that was not buried in some over-thought, overly clean addition. I think this pulls that off. I’m going to fall back on use of (2) Bridgelux 400lm LEDs, as these will produce good light, and are easy to live with in color and soft edged pattern. I’m also employing a couple of finned heat sinks, that will be left black, augmented by some machined glare/reflector cups.1/8″ stgailess rods will replace the old saggy cables.

No, I am not sure about the clips at the glass, but that can be worked out as I get the rest of the parts made up.

Time to get to work now…