MELD Flashlight Driver

The development of a complex user interface with only a single button as input is a challenging and fascinating task. For many years I built and modified LED flashlights, customizing them to every purpose I could imagine. I made lights with different colors and modes, but always a separate light for each purpose. All of this experience culminated in the development of MELD, a driver and user interface for flashlights with white, red, green, blue, and ultraviolet emitters. The goal was to include every function a person could ever want in a flashlight into a single light, but still keep it usable. I think I came pretty close! The UI is designed with layers of complexity to keep common functions readily available, but also includes very advanced functions and end-user customization. Watch the video below for a complete demo.

Details

a complete firmware overview:

and the configuration menu:

Components

1 × PIC16F1825 Microprocessors, Microcontrollers, DSPs / ARM, RISC-Based Microcontrollers
1 × TPS63000 Power Management ICs / Switching Regulators and Controllers
4 × PMV22EN Discrete Semiconductors / Diode-Transistor Modules
1 × LM3410 Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits / Misc. Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits
1 × CREE XP-L