At TI, we celebrate the makers and hobbyists who enjoy creating and innovating on their own time. In our ongoing DIY with TI series, we share their incredible Do It Yourself inventions using TI technology.
Even in a stadium full of fellow Seattle Seahawks fans, TIer Jason Rubadue has a way of standing out in the crowd of blue, white and neon green jerseys.
The Seattle, Wash.-based DIYer designed a bright wearable light display as a creative way to express his team spirit. The louder he yells at a game, the faster the bright light blinks. In Jason’s case, that’s a lot.
“The first time I wore it to a Seahawks game, it flashed quickly the entire time,” said Jason, a TI field applications engineer (FAE). “I finally got it calibrated enough to tune out the normal crowd noise and only respond to the person wearing it. Now it blinks slowly when I’m not yelling and quickly when I am.”
Indeed, one fan can stand out in a stadium like CenturyLink Field, which is notoriously loud during Seahawks games. In 2013, fans there broke the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium (136.6 decibels) during a Sept. 15 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
FanFlare inspiration
Jason’s inspiration for the project came from several places.
In his role as an FAE, he says he enjoys helping his customers design devices and solve problems. But he had always wanted to build a product of his own from start to finish – for fun and to help him become a better engineer.
“I wanted to get my hands dirty doing not just the electrical design, but the whole process – filing the patent, finding partners and suppliers and crafting the overall construction including plastics, mechanicals, and assembly,” he said.
The FanFlare Rally Light was a natural evolution for Jason, who loves to tinker in his home electronics lab in Sammamish, Wash., complete with a 3-D printer and buckets of spare parts that he has been stockpiling.
He began designing the FanFlare Rally Light in late 2013 and incorporated five TI products into the design: TI MSP430G2432 microcontroller (MCU), bq24092 battery charger, TLV70030 low dropout regulator (LDO), OPA348 low-power operational amplifier and TPS61160 LED driver.
The bq24092 charges a thin lithium-polymer battery, and the TPS61160 powers a series of LEDs for the display backlight. The OPA348 combined with a microphone and the MSP430 MCU sense the volume level and increase the flashing frequency of the LEDs based on how loud you yell. The MSP430 MCU also provides the capacitive touch button to control the mode and brightness.
Jason worked with several companies to design and build an injection mold for the plastics, and he partnered with local businesses in Washington to manufacture and assemble the product. He has filed a patent on the project, which is pending final approval.
So you’re probably wondering how you can get a FanFlare Rally Light. You can buy your own set with accessories for $30 through www.fanflare.com. Jason is working on a low-cost version of the light using triple-A batteries that should be ready in time for the 2016-2017 Seahawks season.
Not a Seahawks fan? No problem. The device has a slot where you can change out the graphic printed on transparency film. Or you can simply insert a customized sticker that you buy from a store or custom print (see www.StickerMule.com).
The product also has different modes to turn off the blinking and to change the brightness for indoor use. It’s been used for parties, photography, lighted name badges and emergency/task lighting. Jason has already manufactured about 1,000 rally lights and plans to buildabout 5,000 more.
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Rallying behind a cause
Next month, Jason plans to launch an Indiegogo campaign in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Hospital to raise money for the “Strong Against Cancer” fundraising initiative. He will donate all profits from the FanFlare Rally Light to the initiative, which his favorite Seahawks player, Russell Wilson, happens to support. (Learn more.)
Jason is grateful to the children’s hospital because his 8-year-old daughter, Ainsley, underwent surgery there as an infant.
“That was one of the most trying times of my life. So I have a soft spot in my heart for Seattle Children’s Hospital,” Jason said, adding, “Ainsley is doing phenomenal today.”
Jason grew up playing sports, mainly soccer, in Washington. He has been a Seahawks fan from the team’s start.
“I still have a signed mini-football I got from Steve Largent in 1989, one of our most famous wide receivers,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Russell Wilson in particular. Not only did he get us our first Super Bowl win, but I love the poise and focus he brings to each game.
“It’s also great to be a fan in Seattle. We really love our pro sports teams, and each game is a party,” he said.
Jason received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington. He started at National Semiconductor in 2000 and became a TIer in late 2011. He has worked as an Analog FAE in Seattle since 2004.
Jason also is a U.S. military veteran, having served in the Air Force for five years after high school and using the GI Bill to pay for college.
He said he learned more than he ever expected from his DIY project.
“This has been an amazing process, and I’ve grown and learned so much,” he said. “I have a much deeper understanding of our customers and the pressures and problems they face along many fronts.
“I didn’t realize that every cent you put into the design will eventually turn into 4-5 cents when it reaches the customer. I also have a more personal knowledge and appreciation for the costs, constraints, stress and tradeoffs encountered during every phase of producing a finished product.”