Bulldog Paramotor Strobe

This project documents how I made a 3D printed strobe for my Paramotor. The strobe is designed specifically for a Bulldog Paramotor, so the design would have to be altered to suit a different type of Paramotor. Therefore this project is aimed mainly towards Bulldog Paramotor owners.

I have installed the strobe on my paramotor and I'm really pleased with the outcome. The strobe outputs about 53 flashes per minute with over 8 hours continuous running from a fully charged battery. When the battery needs charging, you just quick release the battery/electronics box from its caddy and charging is done via a micro USB port. The internal battery takes about 6hrs to charge.

All this began in 2017 when I was experimenting with Arduino electronics and wanting to build my own strobe. I needed something that was professional and functional, so I began by learning google sketchup, thanks to Paul McWhorter video tutorials "3D printing from sketchup", see - https://youtu.be/SZnu3GzXZ-g. My first 3D design was the strobe which was a huge learning curve and took many hours as I was learning along the way.

Once I was happy with the software and my first design I ordered a Prusa i3 Mk2S 3D printer kit. It took about a week of evenings to build the printer before I could printi my first version of the Strobe. As you can see from this video, I'm well chuffed - https://youtu.be/6y2r8-kYxwo

I have invested a lot of time and money into this project and gained masses of knowledge, from learning how to design and 3D print and some new found electronics knowledge from Paramotor friend Simon Walker. After multiple versions of design and print iterations, taking over 100hrs of printing different designs until perfection, I'm now happy with the final product!

People keep asking me if I will sell the strobe. I'm not looking to setup a production line as each unit takes many hours to print and assemble. Therefore I'm making this project open source for anyone who would like to take on the task themselves. However If you would prefer to purchase one fully assembled then I offer a purchase price of £150.

If you make one, please share it with this thingy project.