Man Creates Open Source Flashlight 172
DeviceGuru writes "Not content with revealing the source code to his mom's banana bread, two-time BattleBots champion Christian Carlberg has developed an open source flashlight. Carlberg first achieved notoriety shredding competitors' robots with Minion's 14-inch saw blade on BattleBots. Now he's all fired up to begin shipping what they say could be the 'world's first open source flashlight.' But why in the world would you want a reprogrammable flashlight?"
Re:Good Idea (Score:2, Insightful)
I really like the idea that you can charge the light over USB and program it too.
I'm not really sure I like that idea. My uses for flashlights tend to be a) camping, and b) when the power goes out. Unfortunately with USB charging I would get one charge's worth of use in those situations. With regular old batteries I can replace them to infinity, and if I forgot some I can pick them up at a gas station on my way to the woods.
Re:Well (Score:4, Insightful)
Program it to do whatever you want?
give it a strobe function, a slow fade in function, an SOS function, set the levels of lighting the way you want them and not the manufacturer default of "off / barely bright enough to find my way around the house at night / ARGH MY EYES", etc.
Add further capabilities with RGB version down the line.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the data pins on the microcontroller go unused and if he's smart-ish, he'll break those out for you so you can hook up sensors.
Alternatively, perhaps you can work through the existing USB interface, though that requires more work on your part.
Re:Why would I what a reprogrammable flashlight? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd want one with a wireless beacon so I can find it if I lose it. I've lost half a dozen maglites throughout the years.