AI PowerPuck for the AI Vega offers near limitless customization of LED colors

By Jake Adams on Jun 04, 2012

The AI PowerPuck is a new program for future AI Vega owners which will allow you to custom select the LED colors of an AI Vega fixture after you buy it. Using the Color Configuration tool on the AquaIllumination website, you will be able to pick the colors of a single PowerPuck with three choices of white for the center LED and seven choices of LED colors for the radially located LEDs. A spectral graph next to the AI PowerPuck color configuration tool also changes spectrum as you make your selection of LED colors so you know exactly what kind of light distribution you’ll be getting before you swap into the AI Vega.

Once you have your AI vega, it will be cool for users to be able to get to know the stock cool white and two shades of blue LEDs for a little while over their reef tank. After learning what you and your corals like in terms of brightness and color, you’ll be able to custom-select LED colors of AI PowerPucks and fine tune the spectrum for specific results. AN added bonus of the AI PowerPuck is that they will come preconfigured to tell the main controller of your AI Vega which colors are riding which channels and positions so the installation of AI PowerPucks will be virtually plug and play.

SPS coral junkies might opt to select an AI Powerpuck with cool white LEDs, with blue, royal blue and little bit of red/deep red for maximum PAR. Chalice and Acanthastrea coral keepers may select AI PowerPucks with Warm white center LEDs and a little bit of each color for maximum spectral distribution and gaudy coloration. Meanwhile, our blue-addicted reefing brothers on the West Coast will certainly try to overdose on Cool and Neutral white center LEDs and each of the four blue shades of blue and UV LED colors offered by the AI PowerPucks.

It’s still to be determined when the AI Vega will actually be released to the world but with the new AI EXT mounting system, wireless daisy chaining, 20 channels of color control found in the AI Color and the new AI PowerPuck service, AquaIllumination is keeping the AI Vega full of innovations before its release. With the AI PowerPuck Vega owners will have a guaranteed upgrade path and an industry-leading roadmap for what high-performance reef aquarium LED lights will be able to do.

Continuing the industry-shaping trend started five years ago with the release of our

original AquaIllumination LED Module, we are pleased to announce the AI Vega-

controlled by our adaptive AI Power Puck, the pinnacle of our engineering efforts.

The AI Power Puck provides nearly limitless color combinations, allowing custom

configuration of each individual Power Pucks as desired.

As you customize and change the location of your Power Puck, its adaptive capabilities

intelligently tells our proprietary control system the location and type of each LED. This

allows each color to have independent control regardless of quantity or position within a

module.

The AI Vega will begin shipping this summer in our traditional silver/white as well as

the popular black housing color combination. We will offer two standard Vega LED

combinations: cool white, royal blue, and blue; as well as cool white, royal blue, blue,

green, and deep red for those that would like a warmer color combination. Custom Power

Pucks may be purchased through our Color Configuration tool.

We appreciate all the feedback and comments regarding the Vega. It’s been a long time

coming, but the wait will be worth it.

Patents Pending – C2 Development, Inc. manufacturer of the AquaIllumiation product line

of LED lights for saltwater reef aquarium tanks.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Frode-Numan/659084887 Frode Numan

Great!
Krazy_Karl

Not really sure I understand this feature. So the Vega will come with the usual white/blue/royal blue configuration out of the box and then you have to order (pay) for updated colored pucks?
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Grim/100002504656450 David Grim

So you get only white and blue royal blue on purchase, then you get to pay more for the pucks you really want with R, G, UV, etc. Hey, what a deal!

How about buyers get to pick their LEDs before they buy the unit, and don’t make them double buy for other configurations besides white and blue?
Clive Bentley

While being able to specify the LEDs at the time of order would be nice, it’s a logistical nightmare for the manufacturer. This product would then become a direct from manufacturer product, and would not be easily sold by distributors. Retailers like Marine Depot and Reefgeek could drop ship, but then you force them to deal with setting up an ordering system for the product. If you want a compromise, they should sell the fixtures unpopulated, and then have you order the pucks as you see fit. But then you have to wait for the LEDs to arrive while you stair at your blank fixture.
Clive Bentley

Yeah, just like you had to do for Maxspect products. Granted, the Maxspect fixtures offer a little less steep of a pricing structure, only having to buy one LED at a time, but it’s really not that much different.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Frode-Numan/659084887 Frode Numan

I understand you can order any color combination you want – and see online what the expected color temperture will be.
Don’t see any info on that you have to buy white-blue combo first and then do an upgrade to what you want.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Frode-Numan/659084887 Frode Numan

I understand that is just what they offer. And why should that be a logistical nightmare. The logical options are fewer than alle possible options.
There will be probably just a few much sold combinations … so you can preproduce those and make it look like you hand select each fixture
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Thompson/100003123012524 Michael Thompson

too bad this is not available for us SOL owners.
Clive Bentley

Unfortunately, you can’t please everyone all the time. Other companies have gone the way of just offering the kitchen sink when it comes to LED variety, but those options are also much more expensive. Picking and choosing your LEDs can lead to more efficient fixtures, both in cost and output, as you aren’t spending money on LEDs that are used very little, and put in ones that will have more overall benefit.

It is possible that there may only be a few configurations that become popular, and if AI is smart about it, they will monitor the orders of the custom pucks and create a few pre-built models for people to buy.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Grim/100002504656450 David Grim

They should sell the fixtures unpopulated and have the buyer order what they want…perfect solution. Nothing but a rip only selling them with blues/whites.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Grim/100002504656450 David Grim

“Once you have your AI vega, it will be cool for users to be able to get to know the stock cool white and two shades of blue LEDs for a little while over their reef tank.”
Says the stock pucks are white/blues in the blog post.
reefergeeker

Agree, i think they are making it too complicated. People don’t know what they want until they see it, then they will just copy it. Just go with a few combinations.

Or, if they go this unlimited possibility route, just sell the fixture direct– pre-configured!!

I’d love to see a video on how to change the pucks out
Krazy_Karl

Picking and choosing your color combinations is pretty cool, but paying double (meaning twice) to get it working doesn’t make any sense to me.
Bradley Panida

I concur. Still hoping they might toss the SOL owners some sort of color upgrade.
http://www.facebook.com/gorally Eddie Lu

I am not sure everyone know what combination is best to the coral, particular sps they are current keeping and will be keeping. My thought is at end of day, you end up making some bad choice and have to get another puck with different configuration. I rather have a hassle free full spectrum combination than make all my own choice. This will end up benefit to the manufacturer.
SolidStateLEDLighting

So the company will offer custom mounting based on LED choice. This is NOT going to be cost effective ever. The price is going to be high OR the time it takes to receive the order is going to be long OR some combination of the 2.

I’m willing to predict this offering will quietly die a slow death and by this time next year, you’ll not see it AI offering it again.

LED modules must be unitized. And the LEDs must be spread out for even thermodynamics. You can’t bunch them up and expect great cooling. Its common sense.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Frode-Numan/659084887 Frode Numan

You might be right about the costum mouting, AI might be taking a big risk commercialy.

But about common sense…when de cooling is sufficient, you don’t need te spread them more, do you? Enough is enough
I think they proved over the years that their LED configuration works.
SolidStateLEDLighting

When you group LEDs in a tight configuration, you always have a greater struggle with expelling waste heat energy. Temperatures between LEDs will be high.

If you have space to work with — why not use? Why piss it away? I’ll tell you why, because they lose money by spreading the LEDs out. It’s a better design, but they can’t make money with it.

Metal Halide “works” too, but you can’t save energy with it.
Dave Fason

Looks like someone will be on the reflow oven all the time
Clive Bentley

There’s a good reason for tight clusters like this, especially with more than just the white and blue LEDs. The further you separate the LEDs, the more color shadowing (also known as the “disco effect”) you end up getting in the tank. When it was just white and blue LEDs, it wasn’t so bad, and for most people, it was tolerable. I know you’re a proponent of using FR4 for LED mounting substrates, but tight clusters, even at high thermal loads can be dealt with easily with today’s MCPCB technologies. I wouldn’t call this a “tight” configuration anyway.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3PQR2S2EAZUDJKVYUCKLCWJ37Q Micheal

“If you want a compromise, they should sell the fixtures unpopulated,
and then have you order the pucks as you see fit. But then you have to
wait for the LEDs to arrive while you stair at your blank fixture.”

This is kind of what I originally thought this fixture could do, I would love to buy a “blank” fixture and simply slide in the color combos that I want, hell they could even have popular combos pre-made so little wait there vs. someone who wants an odd combo, Red + UV + Green + Green

I can’t imagine a custom colored puck can be cheap though. Economics state scale of manufacturing translates into lower costs
http://www.facebook.com/people/Frode-Numan/659084887 Frode Numan

I agree. Though I like fixtures with a more even spread of LEDs to. More LEDs at lower currents and wide optics can also reduce the disco effect. Like the Triton Lani LED (www.triton.de). But that realy costs some money
themingler99

I think I’ll just buy a Kessil A350W
reefergeeker

all the vega preview images i have seen on reefbuilders have been using green pcbs… not the metal core boards
SolidStateLEDLighting

“Thermal loads can be dealt with”?? I can argue the same for Metal Halides, T5, and Plasma.

Time for confession Clive…. Was there ever a time that you preached in favor of the Luxeon K2?
MCPCBs were developed to make inferior LED technology work. Now that LEDs have properly evolved, ignorance is prevailing and keeping aluminum composite boards in play.

Copper is better… copper is better… copper is better… “Oh, well I like MCPCBs because we’ve always been doing it this way”. No reason to piss off the customer — give the customer what they want….
Clive Bentley

Look, I’m not looking to get into a fight about this with you Keith. As they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

If I have my choice of substrate, I would be using direct attach copper MCPCBs. There is absolutely no arguing that is the best option, albeit the most expensive. FR4 works for you. Great.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=575966996 Kenny Hobden

definitely a feature I would use. it would be nice to see them do something like this for the SOL as well, considering so many users have them, and switching to the vega would be a costly upgrade for most
Juan Pablo Siekavizza

I would wish their website statement was true, “Upgradability” for the Sols, hope the this mods goes to them as well in the near future.

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