Light the road just like a car. When the driver doesn't know you're "just" a bicycle, they have to give you a lot more room.
+ Starting 10/31/2012, This project is reposted. Please place your pledges at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barrybeams/872765644?token=00238859
Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your continuing support.
Barry Beams' breakthroughs in LED lighting, comprising new, unique, and novel developments in optics, circuitry, and packaging, deliver revolutionary increases in usable visibility.
Watt for watt, lumen for lumen, you get superior usable visibility, with superb depth perception, without glare in oncoming drivers' eyes.
Exciting update,
+ as of 10/15/2012, a major bicycle equipment company signed an agreement that once the lights are made, they will market and distribute my products. This means that:
+ The combined funding of the lower funding goal that the reposted Kickstarter project will have, based on what this first project is getting in pledges already, plus the marketing partner's investment, makes it nearly certain that my lights will be made, so by pledging now, you will get your light.
"In all these brevets, when you're able to see all the road you can feel more confident, and that confidence means, going faster, so you can actually push the pace, instead of just trying to last though the night. If it gets me 2 miles per hour faster over 6 to 8 hours of night riding, that's a huge advantage."
Joe Monahan, ... Furnace Creek 508 racer.
"An awesomely bright, intelligently designed beam shape! The first kickstarter thing I've supported. My Christmas present to myself."
... Tian Harter, long time SF Bay Area cycling activist.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what do you think of this video?
http://contour.com/stories/barry-beams-overpowers-car-headlights-on-foothill-expressway
More than a light should be capable of. After a test ride, the builder of the world's fastest electric motorcycle, said, "that's quite a light."
http://contour.com/stories/better-than-just-a-bicycle-can-demonstrate--4
With other lights, you're losing your lumens because they're only bright in the middle. That blinds your peripheral vision so you can't see to the side.
My patent pending beam lights up the road evenly. As with fine luxury sports car lights, high resolution optics project an even beam that's a few lanes wide by far enough ahead for high speed electric motorcycles ,without glare in oncoming drivers' eyes.
Designed and developed in "Silicon Valley", the San Francisco Bay Area hotbed of computer/ electronics talent. Top experts with full time careers in optics, driver circuits, molding, and mechanical design, all live right nearby.
We follow lean startup methodology, knowing that if we "stay with it longer" (Einstein), "disruptive innovation" like the Barry Beam, can result.
+ 214g, battery included. Wow! The heat conducting plastic weighs half of aluminum and carries heat just as well. The top and bottom covers have thicker and thinner sections that are structurally strong with the least material.
+ The Barry Beam.
> Project light long distances, see highway signs at one mile.
> Controlled beam doesn't blind oncoming drivers up high.
> Evenly spread beam lights up brightly across the road down low.
> Lights your feet and water bottles and ground straight below.
> Looks like a pair of car headlights on the road right in front.
> Diamond polished ultra fine aluminum vapor coated light chamber.
> Same process and materials as New Harley Davidson motorcycles.
> Capped and sealed by hardened, polished custom American lens.
+ 4500 mAH Lithium Ion battery. Twice what most others use.
+ Five Light Levels, for superb depth perception without eyestrain under any conditions. Because its about where the brightness goes, not only how bright can it get. Most riders find themselves using lower settings than they expected.
> 52 hours. If other lights call their low a "walking", let's call this "running".
> 9 hours. Joe pedaled all night from San Jose to Pismo Beach at 16+ MPH.
> 4:45 hours. Joan raced most of 3000 miles cross the USA with this.
> 2:15 hours. Car headlight territory, scares off mountain lions too.
> 1:06 hours. 50MPH bombing downhills and zooming electric motorcycles. > 1400+ lumens spread evenly on the road, not wasting away in treetops.
+ Six flash, blink, and pulse patterns, plus program your own.
+ Rapid battery charging. Only 5 hours with the built in high power battery charger. USB jack also onboard for when you don't have the charger with you.
+ Safety timer and shutoff on battery charger. Shuts off to prevent chance of a battery overheat.
+ Low cost, easy battery changing. Just like a flashlight, slide off the cover, old one out, fully charged battery in. Standard off the shelf Lithium ion rechargeable battery costs under half of other brands' extra batteries.
+ No hot spots to the touch. Commuter lights like the Serfas 500 get as hot as freshly poured coffee, 68C. Mine doesn't.
+ User Programmable. Numerous options that you program simply by pressing different combinations of the power switch. No computer needed! What could be simpler?
The Product.
Meticulously tested components. Each item itself is it's own project.
+ Heatsinks CNC machined heat conducting plastic.
+ Infrared imaging at full power to confirm LED cooling.
+ LEDs tested to 25% over rated limits.
+ LED binning: Top tier to increase depth perception and brightness.
+ Thermal Tapes tested to insure maximum heat transfer.
+ Stereolithography made test housings.
+ Circuit boards: Not breadboards. Made from the actual Gerber files.
+ Battery: tested numerous samples.
+ Recharger: power jack tested 2500 insertions, equals 10 years of use.
+ Mount unbreakable, turn any angle, mount on the top, bottom, or side.
+ Mount strap: tested high grade rubbers and ribbed textures for max grip.
Harsh Road Testing.
+ 10,000+ miles by bike commuters and night racers.
The outcome of a race or a person's life on a high speed descent during sleep deprived nights has depended on my Barry Beam working flawlessly.
+ Fastest Descender at the 17 mile long, 50 mph night time downhill at the Furnace Creek 508 race through Death Valley.
+ At the Race Across America, one of the best in the world trusted Barry Beam prototypes for 3000 miles, 12 days, 12 hours a night, of nonstop charge, drain, recharge, repeat, in all extremes of weather and road conditions.
The unique combination of usable visibility, rapid charging, and long burn times led her to blog that my light is, "The Future of Bicycle Lighting".
The Business
I've studied Silicon Valley business successes and failures for even longer than I've been experimenting with lights. As challenging as designing the product, I've applied the principles of Lean Startups to setting up an infrastructure to get the products made.
I don't have a fancy box or package worked out, and I still have to write the instructions, and I'm still tweaking the final shape of the handlebar mount. Otherwise, the key design goals have been met.
The marketing and distribution agreement signed with a well known bicycle equipment company as of 10/15/2012 allows deals to move forward that I had already worked out with vendors who already supply and manufacture for large electronics companies. This insures that if I can get lights produced, if you order a light, you will get one.
The Future:
This well known bicycle equipment company is investing marketing and distribution resources to my lights because they believe that my design can be the disruptive innovation to change bicycle lighting.
Are you looking at a winner here? A ground breaking design from an inventor with a business head on his shoulders, too, who is bringing it all together? With your backing, together, we can make it happen.
Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
My design requires top talent for each specialty. Anyone on a side project needs to balance putting time into the project with day jobs and personal obligations.
So prospective backers know that I'm doing this right, and sincerely want bicyclists to have the same visibility as other vehicles when the sun isn't shining, I pledge that I'll fulfill all their pledges before taking any financial gain.
Scaling up to make larger quantities is the common challenge Makers face.
I made the prototypes pictured, on the mills, CNC machines, and 3D plastic printers at Tech Shop. I can't imaging how else to have done this.
Cost for tooling, electronic assembly, and layout work is a constant, fixed overhead.
One thousand is the MOQ (minimum order quantity) reputable companies will produce, and electronic component vendors will sell. Smaller amounts cost much more and don't get scheduled as quickly. So I continue nurturing hard earned trust and rapport with potential vendors, to insure both high quality and on time delivery.
One way to insure fulfillment is to find multiple sources.
My first choice for LED boards was a Taiwan company with headquarters in the SF Bay area. Their specs came in with loose tolerance for board thickness, and their price was high. An American company came in lower, but it was a complicated arrangement between several parties. Instead, I got a test batch of LED boards from an Australian company that meets my specs, who has provided me LEDs and boards in the past, and is charging me the same markup as their over the counter products.
A small board maker in Long Island offers a better deal for the main board and components than a Shenzen, China company who makes boards for major computer companies.
When only one vendor is available, I negotiate for the high quantity price for the smaller amount I need to get started.
For test parts like you see in the pictures, small American companies are flexible, can deliver great quality and quick turnaround time on complex parts, and provide awesome customer service.
Asian companies give the lowest price on standard molding, however it can take weeks of emails to discuss a design detail that can be taken care of in a short phone call with an American.
Handlebar mount test parts are machined a few miles from my house. We now have finalized the details, and this one man shop is making the tooling. Though he does all this beside working a fulltime day job that takes his first priority, he continues to give me better turnaround time, and came up with a better design than the drawings an established Asian company proposed.
Test molds and production tooling of heatsinks as shown above are done in Michigan by an auto industry prototype shop, lenses in Massachusetts, by long time family run small businesses.
By following sound business advice from seasoned professionals, along with getting the best available talent, having a rapport with vendors and suppliers to get quotes for costs and lead times, and possessing a work ethic that relentlessly weaves this forward toward success, encouraged constantly by friends who know me well and have been observing my bike light experimenting over many years, and with a list of fans who keep asking when the Kickstarter will be ready so they can help me turn an awesome Maker's project, yet still only a Maker's project for now, into them being able to bike at night with the equivalent of a pair of car headlights on their handlebar too, I feel confident that I will succeed.
FAQ
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Its a serious consideration. The data that's accumulating from many new Kickstarter projects that launched after Kickstarter's new quantity limit rule, indicates I should have set the funding goal at half of what it is.
Here is Plan B:
If the project doesn't fund, I'll send an update to the backers asking if they would like me to repost the project for a lower amount, or switch to make payments to a different website. Either way, I continue to thank you for your loyalty, and apologize in advance if for the inconvenience of needing to place your order again.
Why? After I submitted my project, Kickstarter changed their rules, to limit offers to only one item main per order. But their metrics and success rates and expected values and other analytics, and what Kickstarter recommends and encourages new projects to go on, are based on the old rules. I submitted my project before they changed their rules, after doing research and consulting many people with successful Kickstarter projects. After a two week delay, they approved me, without multiple quantities. Had I been able to foresee the pool of data that's accumulating since their new rules were imposed on myself and the other new Kickstarter inventors, I would have set the funding target at half of what it is, and set a longer time.If I could offer multiple quantities, then data from older Kickstarter projects shows the expected value per order would be between about 2 and 2.5, or an estimated 180 to 230 backers would bring in enough to meet the target. Instead, their new rules require that I need to get >455 to reach the target. Within the new restrictions, that's just not reasonable.
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Yes I will ship internationally. Please add a flat rate of $25.00 for up to two lights to the same address.
For three or four four lights to the same address, international flat rate will be $35. Then please add $25. for each two, or $35. for each four, additional. Hth, BarryThis helps cover the higher shipping cost, the separate handling and packaging, and paperwork like customs declarations.
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Yes, it does.
You just need a plug adapter to match the US plug with your wall outlet.
The charging circuit is built in, on the main board. The USB jack works from any USB source.The hi power jack takes 5.0Volt 1.0 to 1.2 Amp source, and charges 3x to 4x faster than a USB source will. The charging circuit also has reverse current protection.
You can also charge extra batteries outside the light with: http://www.all-battery.com/Tenergy2-Channel18650and14500Li-ionBatteryCharger-01269-01.aspx or similar. That unit takes a 12V input so you can also drive it with a car lighter adapter, 12C straight out. As with my power adapter, you will just need a plug adapter for your 220 wall outlets. I appreciate all the support I receive, and look forward to your order. Please keep spreading the word. Helmet side up, Barry -
The light holds up well in a drizzle or rain. Some of my distance racers have been caught in downpours, and myself and other road testers have been fine in any weather conditions.
I also gave one a good spray with a garden hose and had no problems.
If moisture or water does get into the housing, please note that I mounted the main circuit on the bottom of the circuit board, with 2mm of clearance below to the inside cover. The most condensation that could form under worst conditions might be dewdrops. The heat inside the light from the heatsink will quickly evaporate them.
With lights that you can quickly open and change batteries on, the bike lighting industry calls this level of protection "weather resistant".
Also, the side runners and channels on the heatsink's wings are angled downward to channel any water to the outside of the top cover. The circuit board will also have a silicon conformal coating.
Some lights that have much higher price points, and require separate battery packs or have sealed batteries, do have fully waterproof housings and electrical connectors. I would love your thoughts and feedback on the design, and thank you so very much backing my project.
Sincerely,
Barry -
There is an illuminated pushbutton on the back. The clear upright tab on the rear of the bottom cover flexes over a momentary contact switch on the main board. This button is very easy to find by feel, since it reaches back 3.5mm, over 1/8 inch, from the back of the battery cover. I made this to have a secure, positive action, to avoid accidentally switching the light off or on. The light turns on with a push. A longer press enters flash/pulse mode. More presses step up through five brightness levels or blink patterns with subsequent pushes. A longer press steps down one step. If pressed at top brightness, the light blinks to alert you.If pushed at lowest setting, the light also blinks to alert you. Shutoff happens by holding pushed in through the lowest setting.That describes "bicycle mode" in the firmware. There is also a stationary flashlight mode. That gives eight settings, with a quick click on and off, and a press and hold to step up or down levels. Road testing by long distance riders showed that the five step "bicycle mode" is best preferred by most cyclists. People who have used this camping, or around the house or shop for stationary use, like the eight step "flashlight mode" better. User setup mode happens by removing and reconnecting the battery, then pressing the button while the self test flashes are happening. I will be writing documentation to described all the functions.There is a low power warning light too. That comes on solid Orange on the rear bottom, at between 1/3 and 2/3 drained, depending on the current brightness. When there are 10 - 20 minutes left (depending on brightness), the orange will blink, and main light will blink every 10 seconds. That time interval is user programmable. At that point the battery has dropped to ~3.0volts, and you are on a reduced brightness reserve mode and should recharge or change batteries. With all lithium ion batteries, further use in reserve mode will reduce the number of charges the battery will last for. There is an absolute voltage cutoff at 2.75V. When that happens, the main light will flash 5 times and shut off. If you still need some light, wait a few minutes and turn back on to a low setting, knowing that you will be reducing the battery's useful life by doing so.I hope this is sufficiently specific. Helmet Side Up,Barry
192
Backers
$23,119
pledged of $49,500 goal
Funding Canceled Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator on October 29, 2012.
Funding period
Sep 27, 2012 -
Oct 29, 2012
(32 days)
- 2 created · 0 backed
- Barry Beams Lighting 242 friends
- Website: barrybeams.com
Pledge $18 or more
2 backers Limited (2498 of 2500 left)
A spare battery, plus I'll give you a pull in a headwind, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $22 or more
0 backers Limited (1000 of 1000 left)
The Barry Beams Handlebar Mount. Actually two separate mounts with straps that can be put together into a universal any angle mount unlike anything else. This replaces Light and Motion and Night Rider and small camera screw on brackets too. Nearly indestructible hockey board plastic combined with a high density o-ring dampener and thick and wide rubber straps make this the sturdiest light weight shock absorbing mount imaginable. Full 360 degree rotation lets you mount top down, sideways, upright, and any odd angle your handlebars or aerobars can challenge it with. Plus I'll give you a pull in a headwind, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $36 or more
2 backers Limited (998 of 1000 left)
The awesome Barry Beams universal fit handlebar mount, plus a spare battery, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $42 or more
0 backers Limited (1000 of 1000 left)
Try out a Barry Beam prototype for a week. Or if your "answer is 42", donate to help support my dream of launching the future of bicycle and tactical lighting and I'll be happy to give you a pull in a headwind in a hailstorm if we happen to meet up on rides where this is know to happen, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. You will need to pick it up from me here in the SF Bay Area, or make other arrangements.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $95 or more
54 backers All gone!
Earlybird special! For the first 54 only, One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, including battery and charger, plus spare battery, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $99 or more
16 backers Limited (484 of 500 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, put it together yourself option, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. Great for Makers and DIY types. I will send you the parts as soon as I receive them. If you can solder a few easy wires and put some other parts together, total time about 1/2 hour, this is the version for you.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2012Pledge $109 or more
44 backers Limited (456 of 500 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, including battery and charger, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $136 or more
32 backers Limited (468 of 500 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, battery and charger, plus two spare batteries, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. Let's you give more support than just the standard pledge amount.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $154 or more
15 backers Limited (485 of 500 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, battery and charger, plus two spare batteries, and a second mount, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. It is safe and prudent to ride with spares because sometimes you could be in immediate danger if a light goes out.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $159 or more
15 backers Limited (85 of 100 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, hand assembled personally by me, plus battery and charger, plus a spare battery, from the first batch of parts I receive, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. Let's you give more support than just the standard pledge amount. You also will get your light sooner.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2012Pledge $172 or more
4 backers Limited (496 of 500 left)
One Barry Beams bicycle and tactical beam, battery and charger, plus two spare batteries, and a second charger to keep at the office, and a second mount, and a huge thank you for your support, in helping me to become the next big Kickstarter success. It is safe and prudent to ride with spares because sometimes you could be in immediate danger if a light goes out.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Pledge $308 or more
1 backer All gone!
Because you love the project like I do and would hate to see it fail. Like the $154. pledge plus a player to be named later.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2013
