Archive for May, 2015

Light pipe tail light for the GSXR

I wanted the new subframe and tail of my GSXR to be really different, I wanted a kind of rough raw look but still really clean. I used unfinished stainless steel and some really angular sections to achieve this. One of the most important parts about how I built the tail was being able to add a light pipe around the outside perimeter for a taillight.

P1030499

I made the light pipe from 1/4″ acrylic, cut out three sections and used acrylic cement to join them. I added LEDs and coupled them to the light guide with LOCA glue. The amount of LEDs I had to use to achieve good brightness meant I would need to build a boost power supply for the LED drivers since the strings would require more than the available voltage. Here is a simple boost power supply I made with three LED drivers and an ATtiny2313 for controlling flashing the side segments as turn signals. There was some logic required to sense the turn signal state prior to the switch and keep the sides working correctly as both brake and signals.
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2015 Automotive, CNC, Electronics 1 Comment