LuxLibre

LuxLibre

Pick a light  ·  Compare  ·  Web apps  ·  Firmware  ·  Design your own  ·  Build a FlashKa  ·  Repository map  ·  Help

Open-source flashlights, from the first requirement to the finished light. LuxLibre is one firmware for many lights, a set of design rules, a guide to choosing parts and testing them, and seven reference designs: the FlashKa keychain light and the EDCO family of sealed everyday-carry lights. Every design comes with CAD, dimensioned drawings, renders, a firmware board header and simulated light output. Anyone may build, change and sell lights made with it, companies included (LICENSING.md).

Pick a light

All seven at true scale (render). The web site has the same lineup: pick a light there to see its details.

FlashKa v0.7 Keychain light with a laser and a Bluetooth presenter mode. 99.2 × 20 × 18 mm · one 14500 about 1,045 lm · 162 m throw · 2 h 17 min from turbo build guide · drawings · web app	EDCO Prism A beam that is white or any colour. Ø28 × 83 mm · one 18350 about 1,250 lm turbo · red, green, blue and any mix drawing · CAD · settings page	EDCO Mini Sealed keychain light with red and UV side lights. Ø22 × 73.5 mm (16340) or Ø19 × 69.4 mm about 950 lm · keyring tab · magnet version drawings · CAD · firmware
EDCO v0.2 The bright one: an SST-40 at up to 5.7 A. Ø26 × 97.8 mm (18500) or Ø22 × 95.6 mm (14500) about 1,760 lm · USB-C under a twist collar drawings · CAD · firmware	EDCO v0.1 A plain sealed tube with USB-C in the tail. Ø20 × 93.5 mm · one 14500 about 966 lm · 2 h 21 min from turbo drawing · CAD · firmware	Compare them Every design against 14 popular lights, from the RovyVon A3 Pro to the Fenix PD36R Pro: light, throw, runtime, size and price, with sources.

Every picture is a render made from the design files. None of these lights has been built yet: every light figure is simulated with the LuxLibre simulator (out of the front, LED at 85 °C) or estimated, and every page says which.

Where to go next

I want to	Go to
see how the designs compare with lights I can buy	docs/comparison.md
look at a design in detail: specifications, renders, how it is built, cost, open points	the design pages above, or all the lights
get drawings and CAD to make parts	each design’s cad/ folder: STEP files and A3 drawings (DXF, PDF, PNG), e.g. EDCO Prism, FlashKa v0.7
try the FlashKa control app without a light	the FlashKa web app, Try demo mode
change the settings of a LuxLibre light from the browser	the LuxLibre settings page (Web Serial over USB-C; demo mode without a light)
run the firmware without hardware	Quick start and docs/firmware/simulator.md
design my own light	docs/README.md: requirement sheet, choosing parts, design rules, testing
put LuxLibre on my board	docs/firmware/porting.md
build a FlashKa	the build guide and order files
report a build, measurements or a problem	CONTRIBUTING.md and the build report form

The lights at a glance

Light	Size (mm)	Cell	Light at 30 s	After 10 min	Throw	From turbo to the end point	What sets it apart
FlashKa v0.7	99.2 × 20 × 18	14500, 1,500 mAh	966 lm	about 280 lm	6,605 cd, 162 m	2 h 17 min	Class 2 laser, Bluetooth presenter mode, glowing key ring
EDCO Prism	Ø28 × 83.0	18350, 1,200 mAh	1,248 lm	about 280-350 lm	about 3,000 cd (est.)	1 h 29 min	colour beam, RGB-lit button, settings page over USB-C
EDCO Mini-16	Ø22 × 73.5	16340, 650 mAh	944 lm	about 230 lm	about 11,000 cd (est.)	1 h 07 min	red and UV side lights, keyring tab, magnets in the M version
EDCO Mini-14	Ø19 × 69.4	14350 made to order, about 400 mAh	978 lm	about 195 lm	about 5,600 cd (est.)	51 min	the smallest; needs a cell made to order
EDCO-18	Ø26 × 97.8	18500, 1,500 mAh	1,759 lm	about 330-390 lm	about 18,000 cd (est.)	1 h 39 min	the brightest; USB-C under a twist collar
EDCO-14	Ø22 × 95.6	14500, 1,000 mAh	1,561 lm	about 260-320 lm	about 11,000 cd (est.)	1 h 18 min	the same in a slimmer body
EDCO v0.1	Ø20 × 93.5	14500, 1,500 mAh	966 lm	about 290 lm	6,605 cd, 162 m	2 h 21 min	sealed USB-C socket in the tail

All figures are simulated, out of the front, with the LED at 85 °C in 25 °C still air. “est.” marks an estimate from the optic’s beam angle. The end point is ANSI FL1: 10 % of the 30 s output.

Against popular flashlights

• Keychain size. The EDCO Mini gives more than twice the light of a 60 mm RovyVon A3 Pro at 30 s. The best 16340 lights, the Olight Baton 4 and Fenix E18R V2.0, are shorter and still brighter.
• 14500 and 18350 size. EDCO-18 and EDCO-14 are the brightest at 30 s and run the longest from turbo, but they are about 17-20 mm longer than the Skilhunt MiX-7 or Emisar D3AA.
  • EDCO Prism gives about 10 % less white than the MiX-7, the only other colour-beam light of its size. It runs longer and charges from any USB-C cable.
• 18650 size is still the territory of lights like the Fenix PD36R Pro: no LuxLibre design is that big yet.

Every number, its source and what was left out: docs/comparison.md. The other lights were measured by independent reviewers; the LuxLibre lights are simulated, and their measured numbers will replace these once they are built.

In your browser

Page	What it does	Needs
LuxLibre settings page	reads and changes every parameter of a LuxLibre light over USB-C (Web Serial), and for the EDCO Prism the beam’s colour and the custom colour; a demo mode with the EDCO Prism’s settings	Chrome or Edge on a computer and a USB-C data cable
FlashKa control app	battery, temperature and runtime; light on and off, levels and exact current; profiles with an editor; presenter settings and paired computers; a demo mode with a simulated light	Chrome or Edge on Android, Windows, macOS or ChromeOS; Bluefy on iPhone and iPad
FlashKa firmware installer	writes the firmware through the light’s USB-C port and checks what it wrote; the firmware image is inside the page	Chrome or Edge on a computer and a USB-C data cable

All three run entirely in the browser: nothing is uploaded and there is no account. The start page links them all. They are published from site/ and hardware/flashka-keychain-v06/app/ with GitHub Pages.

Repository map

Folder	What is in it	Start with
hardware/	the lights: design pages, CAD and drawings, renders, circuit boards, order files	the lights
flashka-keychain-v07/	FlashKa v0.7, the keychain light with a laser and a presenter mode	build guide, drawings
edco-prism/	EDCO Prism, white or any-colour beam	drawing, pictures
edco-mini/	EDCO Mini-16 and Mini-14, sealed keychain lights	drawings, pictures
edco-v02/	EDCO-18 and EDCO-14, about 1,760 lm	drawings, pictures
edco-v01/	EDCO v0.1, the first EDCO	drawing, pictures
flashka-keychain-v06/, v05/	older FlashKa designs; v0.6 also holds the FlashKa firmware and web pages
tools/	scripts for the drawings, animations, lineup and banner
firmware/	the LuxLibre firmware source: core, ports, board headers, tests, simulator	firmware guide, board headers
docs/	design rules, choosing parts, flashlight types, testing, the comparison, the firmware guide	reading paths
tools/	lux_calc.py (runtime, throw, heat, trace width, NTC…) and the comparison charts
templates/	requirement sheet, design log, decision matrix, BOM, review checklist, test report	requirement sheet
site/	the web site: start page and LuxLibre settings page	live site

At the top level: CHANGELOG, CONTRIBUTING, SAFETY, SECURITY, LICENSING (what the licences mean), TRADEMARKS and the licence texts. Every page has a path at the top (LuxLibre › Lights › EDCO Prism) to find your way back.

Quick start

Try the web pages without a light: open the settings page or the FlashKa control app and choose the demo mode.

Try the LuxLibre firmware without hardware (Linux, macOS, or Windows with WSL):

cd firmware
make test                                    # unit and behaviour tests
make sim BOARD=edco-prism                    # the simulator with the EDCO Prism's board header
build/luxsim-edco-prism --preset board "2C W600000"            # double click for turbo, then 10 minutes
build/luxsim-edco-prism --preset board "5C W2000 2C W2000"     # colour beam on, then the next colour
make sim BOARD=edco-mini-16                  # the same for any board in firmware/boards/
build/luxsim-edco-mini-16 --preset board --set TURBO_S=0 "2C W600000"

The LuxLibre firmware in its simulator: turbo, then smooth thermal regulation at 50 °C for a keychain light and an 18650 light (how this was made).

Design a light: start with the requirement sheet (templates/requirements.md), then follow docs/choosing-parts.md and check the result against docs/design-rules.md. docs/README.md suggests a reading order.

Put LuxLibre on your board: docs/firmware/porting.md.

Build a FlashKa: read the build guide once from start to end, then use the files in order_files/.

Status

LuxLibre 0.5.0. What has been tested so far:

Part	State
LuxLibre firmware core	13 unit tests with 529 checks, and 47 behaviour tests with 263 checks in the simulator on three test boards; all run by CI
ATtiny1616 and CH32V003 ports	build and link in CI; not yet run on hardware
ESP32-C3 port	built with ESP-IDF 5.3.1 in CI for every FlashKa and EDCO board header; not yet run on hardware
LuxLibre settings page	checked in a browser in demo mode and against a simulated serial port; not yet used with a real light
FlashKa v0.7	designed and checked by software: netlist across both boards, KiCad DRC with 0 errors, both boards’ 3D models inside the housing, key travel, drawings against the CAD, both casting moulds, cost; light output and runtime simulated; not yet built
FlashKa firmware and web pages (0.7.0 for v0.7, 0.6.0 for v0.6)	166 unit and 9 thermal simulation tests (v0.7 build), 153 host tests (v0.6 build); control app, installer and start page checked in a browser against simulated hardware; not yet run on a real light
EDCO Prism, Mini, v0.2 and v0.1	concepts. Each housing is modelled in CadQuery and checked for fits, walls and interference. The body drawings are checked against the solids. Each has a firmware board header, and its light output, temperatures and runtime are simulated. The circuit boards are not drawn yet, and nothing has been built
Design rules, guides, tools	complete; numbers from standards and datasheets carry sources

The first hardware results will be added as test reports. Measurements from your builds are the most valuable contribution: the build report issue form asks for exactly what is needed. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Safety and security

Lithium cells, bright LEDs, hot surfaces and lasers can hurt people. Read SAFETY.md before building or testing. Security problems (for example in Bluetooth pairing or the web pages) are reported privately as described in SECURITY.md.

Licences

Like ArduPilot, LuxLibre may be used, changed, built and sold by anyone, companies included, as long as the shared parts stay open:

• firmware and tools: GPL-3.0-or-later
• hardware design files: CERN-OHL-W-2.0
• documentation: CC-BY-SA-4.0
• the FlashKa Rust firmware, web pages and web tools: MIT or Apache-2.0

What that means in practice, including for products you sell: LICENSING.md. How to use the names LuxLibre and FlashKa: TRADEMARKS.md.

Background

LuxLibre stands on the shoulders of the enthusiast flashlight community:

• The Anduril firmware (GPL-3.0) showed how much a single button can do.
• Early open lights such as the HexBright showed that people want to change their lights.
• The community keeps asking for exact levels, visible settings and configuration without a command line (BLF discussion, 2026).

LuxLibre adds what a design team needs around the firmware: rules, a part-selection method, tests, a simulator and complete reference designs. Its parameter system and its licensing follow ArduPilot.

The name: Latin lux, light, and libre, free as in freedom.

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