Headlamp/Bike Light Damping System

The task for this project is to design a headlamp and/or bike light that absorbs the impact shocks from the user’s actions. The user that the system is being designed for may be riding a bike or running on a trail in the evening or early in the morning where the light needs to be stabilized and their path must be illuminated. This report presents the final design chosen after months of prototyping and design iteration. It encompasses the system design, design verification through testing, implementation, future recommendations, and lessons learned throughout the process. The chosen design utilizes a fully passive, magnetic damping system to counteract disturbances in the vertical direction. Through vibration tests, drop tests, and field tests, the design is refined and validated to ensure it fulfills its intended functions. The main test was the vibration test which used accelerometers to help find the optimal height between the magnets that will induce the most damping. The vertical axis was the most important that saw the most instability so that was where the stabilizing system was implemented. The ideal distance was found to be 1.22 inches which means the distance to the middle magnets is 0.61 inches. When the magnets move closer than this 0.61 inches it causes a rapid increase in the magnetic force and causes the system to rapidly stabilize. This distance will provide the best damping for when the headlamp is worn for casual use and up to light jogging. When going through the design process many different types of damping systems were considered and magnets ended up being the most efficient due to their ability to self-stabilize, decrease the manufacturing difficulty, and keep the system completely mechanical