Measuring light from xenon flashlamp?

eem2am · Aug 22, 2012

Hello,

How do we measure the light output (in Cd)?

Its a 3W flashlamp.

The actual flash itself only lasts for 200us....but to the eye , it appears longer.

GreenGiant · Aug 22, 2012

using a light sensor you can set up a system with a microcontroller to take the maximum reading and then display it, it would be difficult (but not impossible) to pull the exact candela value out of it

An arduino would be able to do it with the right parts and programming

(*steve*) · Aug 23, 2012

What you need to do is get a photodiode, and capture the current through it as a signal when you fire the flash. You could use a digital scope for this.

Then you can use the datasheet for the photodiode to convert the current you see into a measure of light intensity.

You will need to adjust the results for the distance between the flash tube and the photodiode and you may also need to add neutral density filters between the flash tube and the photodiode to bring the light level down to a value that you can sensibly extrapolate the diodes data to (and you'll have to allow for them as well).

Expect a value in hundreds of thousands.

Remember that you'll be measuring light intensity, not total light output, so you may need to convert that again. You should really be working in standard units like lux and lumens, not candela and foot-candles.

edit: This article may give you some ideas of the numbers to expect.

Measuring light from xenon flashlamp?

eem2am

GreenGiant

(steve) ¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd Moderator

Difficulty measuring forward voltage for a LED

Ultrasonic sensor not perfectly measuring distance|plan to use laser sensor

Measuring light from xenon flashlamp?

eem2am

GreenGiant

(*steve*) ¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd Moderator

Difficulty measuring forward voltage for a LED

Ultrasonic sensor not perfectly measuring distance|plan to use laser sensor

(steve) ¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd Moderator