**The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Intruder Scaring Powerful LED Stroboscope**

As someone who's interested in home security, you're likely looking for effective ways to scare off intruders on your property. While a siren is the obvious choice, a bright blue stroboscope light can be just as intimidating and even more useful in certain situations.

**What is a Stroboscope?**

A stroboscope is a device that consists of a light source and a driver circuit that periodically illuminates the light source for a very short amount of time. This creates an optical illusion that makes objects look like they're moving in slow motion. While this effect can be useful in a nightclub setting, it also has scientific applications.

**The Stroboscopic Effects**

In a demonstration, a motor with a marked disc was attached to its rotor and let spin at an unknown rpm. When stroboscope lights were created out of high-power LEDs, MOSFETs, and function generators, the disc appeared to be frozen in time. This effect is known as the "Stroboscopic Effects" and occurs when the pulse frequency of the stroboscope matches the rotation frequency of the motor.

**Building a Stroboscope at Home**

To build a stroboscope light at home without using a big and bulky function generator, there are two main options: microcontroller routes or 555 timer circuits. Both can be adjusted with potentiometers to achieve the desired pulse time and frequency.

**The Final Product**

After testing both circuits and soldering them onto a perfboard, the author created a stroboscope light using three blue high-power LEDs, each with its own heatsink and mounting system. The lights were powered by an overkill boost converter that can output up to 90 volts and 1500 watts.

**The Result**

As you can see in the demonstration video, the stroboscope effect is definitely there, but the light source appears dimmer due to the short illumination time. However, this can be compensated for by increasing the voltage and current flow.

**Conclusion**

And that's it for this article! The author hopes you found it informative and entertaining. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more content.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhen somebody breaks into your propertyWhat do you think is a suitableoption to scare them off?The obvious way is a sirenthat creates a super loud signal toneand thus informs other people about the break-in.But another option which I think is pretty effectiveis the bright blue stroboscope lights.Which not only turns your propertyinto a temporary nightclubbut also messes with the vision of the intruderSo in this video, I will show you how to create an intruder scaring powerful LED stroboscopeAnd while we're at it, learn a bit about the Stroboscopic effectsLET'SGET STARTEDThis video is sponsored by JLCPCB.From quick turn class to production class,they offer great quality and serviceSo feel free to test out their PCB qualityand delivery speeds for only $2.00!First off, what exactly makes up a stroboscope?Well, in a nutshell it consists of a light sourceand the driver circuitsthat periodically illuminates the light sourcefor a very short amount of time.Due to those quick energy bursts or flasheswe create an optical illusionthat make objects look likethey are moving in slow motion.But besides the nightclub application,there's also a scientific application.If we, for example, take a motorattached a disc to its rotor with a markingand let it spin with an unknown rpmthen it would look something like this on camera.But if we now create a stroboscopelights out of an high power LED,a MOSFET with suitable driverand the function generatorand slowly increase the pulse frequencyof these stroboscope lightsthen the disc would slowly start to look a bit strange.And that a pulse frequency of 35.13 Hz.It looks like the marking of the disc is frozen in timeWhich is known as the “Stroboscopic Effects”The reason for that is while beforewe saw all the positions of themarking during a rotationNow the stroboscope lights with its pulse frequencymatches the rotation frequencyand thus only illuminates the disc when it is starting a new rotationThat means the pulse frequencyis a multiple of the rotation frequencyWhich after doing a small examination seems to be correct.And just like that, we can visually determinethe rotation speed of a motor.Awesome!But how can we build a stroboscope light at home without utilizing a big and bulky function generator?To do that, there are two main stream optionsThe first one is the microcontroller routes.Whose frequency and energy pulse timeI was able to adjust with two potentiometersAccording to this simple schematicand I even reached down to a pulse time of only 50 msat a frequency of 30 to 50 Hz.Such a small pulse time is recommended byvarious stroboscope lights I found online.But then again, why bother with programmingwhen you can use a 555 timer assecond only hardware routes.According to this schematic,I was able to adjust the pulse time and frequencythrough two potentiometers as well.But only cut down to a pulse time of 3 ms.Which is 60 times longer than the Arduino.But after doing some extensive testing with both circuitsand my white high power LEDI have to say that the 555 timer is definitely sufficientfor my intruder defense system.So after I was sure that these circuits did workwithout any problems on the breadboard,I soldered all of its components on to a perfboard.And afterwards to one and other according to the schematicBut I did not soldered the potentiometers to the perfboard.Because I will have to mount them somewhere else later onAnd once the circuits was completes.I did a small test with it and moved onby choosing a different LED light source.Since I think blue LED light is the most annoying oneI got myself three blue high-power LEDs for testinga 20 watt one, a 30 watt one, and a 100 watt oneBut we cannot simply connect them toa power source without a proper heatsink.Because the fast rising temperature would destroythese strings of small LEDs inside themSo I got myself a big aluminum sheetswith a thickness of 7 mmOn to it, I marked three 12 mm squaresand started cutting them out oneafter the other with a handsawBut since I got lazy at the end, I passed on the last cutsand thus got one bigger heatsinkwhich I will use for the 100 watts LEDNext, I positioned the LEDs in the center of the heatsink,mark the mounting holes on to it,drilled them with a 3 mm drill bits,countersink the holes afterwards,clean the heatsinks as well as the LEDs with acetone,distributed heatsink platter onto the LEDsand finally, mounted them to the heatsinkwith M3 bolts and self-locking nuts.To power them, I got myself this overkill boost converterthat can output up to 90 voltsand the power of 1500 wattsSo, I connected the output of this converterin series to a multimeter and the LEDs.In order to increase the voltageuntil I reached the nominal currentflow of the LEDs according to this chart.As you can see there are all insanely brightsbut doing this comparison in my lab is not fittingThat is why drilled more mounting holes into the heatsinksas well as two holes in the backside wall of my garageadded plastic dowels and mounted the LEDs there one of the otherin order to power them and observe the lightoutputs from the front side of my garage.Now everyone got their personal tastes,but for me the 100 watt one wasthe most suitable for the job.That is why I added a distribution box next to it to the wallin whose lids I mounted the potentiometers of these stroboscope circuits.After then wiring everything up likeit shown in this final simplified schematicand stuffing the 555 timer circuits inside the boxit was time to scare some intruders!As you can see this stroboscope effect is definitely thereBut while looking from the outside once again,the light source seems dimmerThe reason is that it is only illuminated for a small amount of time.Which on the other hand meanswe can increase its voltage and currentflow a bit to compensate for that.And don't worry due to the long offtime the LED can handle that.But anyway with that been donethe first part of my new security system for my garage is installed.And I hope you're looking forward to the conclusion of its in another videoin which I will also have to replace the overkill boost converter.Until then don't forget to Like, Share and Subscribe.STAYCREATIVEAND I WILLSEE YOUNEXT TIME!“R.I.P Subtitle Community Contribution” - PolaX3