Blog - All Comments

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

Anthocyanina — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 21:47:05 GMT

My prize has arrived! thank you, and thank you for this fun challenge! [emoticon:c4563cd7d5574777a71c318021cbbcc8]

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

DAB — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 20:04:41 GMT

After reviewing some of the comments below, I would like to share some wisdom I received many years ago.

When you create a conclusion or summary, assume that the people who decide the fate of your work will only read the summary.

Therefore, make sure that you include enough detail to clearly explain the points you want to make about your work.

If you take a good look at the winning posts for this contest you will see that they were well written with just enough detail to explain what they did and how they did it with emphasis on what they found during the contest.

In my long career, I found that learning to communicate what I had done to people who were not necessarily well grounded in the technology was essential.

You do not need to dazzle anyone with technical detail. What you need to do is explain complexity with simplicity.

When I wrote my books on my physics theory, I used my artist wife as my sounding board. When she could understand what I wanted to say, I knew that I had brought the physics down to the correct level of simplicity.

RE: Blog 5 - Magic Light Box: Building The Prototype

jc2048 — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 12:09:26 GMT

In the schematic in your blog, the load is an LED driver (buck switcher) that is controlling a string of LEDs. Normally, that switcher would be trying to regulate the current through the LEDs. Your control loop is finding supply voltages for it where it doesn't function properly but has the switch on enabling current flow through the LEDs (suggests it's probably a self-oscillating hysteretic part). Whilst that is working for you, it is messy and it confused me as to what you were trying to show me. Personally, I'd have started with a resistive load (resistance similar to the dynamic resistance of the LEDs at the operating current) and then moved to a simple string of LEDs when I knew that the control loop was functioning and controlling the current properly.

If anyone tries to replicate what you've done, there's also a "gotcha" built in. Consider what happens if your control loop is set to a higher current than the buck converter works to. Your loop will raise the voltage on C13 in the expectation that the current will increase, but it won't because the buck converter will reduce its duty cycle to compensate. Your loop will again up the voltage, and so on. With the LED controller functioning, there is no 'right' voltage for C13. So, make sure you have some mechanism to limit the voltage before something gets damaged.

Ideally, I'd have liked to have seen more on the loop control and how it responded dynamically, but I can see that you ran out of time after an extensive and demanding design challenge, so not to worry.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

Gough Lui — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 10:44:49 GMT

Many thanks to [mention:4966e6ad97f64dac9ea8919abb220e1d:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] and [mention:b0bc65b9ecdc4307bd967592f00e340a:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] for judging. It was no great surprise who were vying for the top two spots, as I had a relatively late start and this was the outcome I had very much expected. Nevertheless, I am extremely grateful to element14 and [mention:55e535b498a841ed8f2949266bc56dc3:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] for the opportunity, and for awarding a 3rd-place prize this time around. That was completely unexpected and is a much appreciated gesture. I am most humbled to be awarded a prize at all! Thank you all.

- Gough

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

flyingbean — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 03:43:44 GMT

Congratulations to all participants. It is a great subject for experiments.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

kmikemoo — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 03:02:06 GMT

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated. This one seemed to take "challenge" to a new level - at least in my mind.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

BigG — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 20:23:37 GMT

Congratulations to all the winners, and finishers. That was some accomplishment. Well deserved for sure.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

DAB — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 20:03:55 GMT

Well done everyone.

I know I learned a lot about flyback transformers and their uses.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

rscasny — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 19:44:49 GMT

I want to thank everyone who participated or took an interest in this program. I think it was hard and I know there was a learning curve for most of the participants.

The prizes we did not already have are on order. I think we have shipped one of them thus far.

Randall

--element14 Community Team

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

javagoza — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 10:52:46 GMT

Thanks to the judges for their time and evaluations. Congratulations to Sara, it has been very gratifying and instructive to read her blogs, keep up the good work.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

rsjawale24 — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 08:29:07 GMT

Congratulations everyone!

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

shabaz — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 23:21:02 GMT

Congratulations everyone! It was a complex topic and it was really fun and useful, to read all the findings/progress throughout the challenge!

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

Jan Cumps — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:46:23 GMT

Thank you, all, for the great stories. It was a great (complex) subject, and you all winged it.

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

Anthocyanina — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:01:35 GMT

Thank you! and congrats to the other winners and finishers. That's a really nice soldering station added for the third prize! well deserved!

RE: Experimenting with Flyback Transformers - Winner's Announcement

dougw — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 21:25:23 GMT

Congratulations to the contestants. There was some superlative work and blogging on this tricky technology.