on the home page under the HI res pics and videos samples, there is a SES Eh3-R with tewo bars of this wierd blue lighting. anyone know where these bars of funky neon blue lights can be found? custom fab? Lynxmotion offer them? those things would look amazing on a black SES hexapod! 
Although may interfere with light sensorsā¦
I believe that those are CCFD lights, as commonly used to illuminate the insides of tricked-out computer cases. I wouldnāt be so worried about the light interfering with sensors as I would the high-frequency switching interfering with signals. Good filtering and careful cable routing could probably prevent that, though.
Yea, a hexapod that looks nice but couldnāt walk would be a bit silly.
Sort of like my brotherās carā¦
Those are cathode lights. There used in computers to make them glow. there very easy to install and run on a 12 v battery. There are inexpensive and long lasting (about 20 years). You can buy them from this site: www.crazypc.com/products/8247b.html
Hope you have fun with these. I will.
are those gonna mess with my signal? using a wireless PS2 controller for starters. seamus says that you can route them right and not worry? so what IS proper routing? can I just use a 12v duracell or do I need somehthing special? just a simple on/off switch or should I incorporate directly into the robotics system? keep them seperate? sorry about the questions. just so excited! canāt wait to get into robots.
Iām sorry - I did not intend to imply that anything would or would not come of using these lights, or routing your wires in one way or another. I was just trying to point out that CCFD lighting requires an inverter - usually a high-frequency one - to step up the input voltage to something that can be used to drive the lights. CCFD lights use electrical discharge within the tube to generate a glow. From my experience with radio gear, I know that such situations can sometimes lead to interference problems with either RF or low-level electronic signalling, particularly if you leave inputs in a hi-Z state, rather than tying them either high or low. You may or may not experience this, depending on any number of factors, including - but not necessarily limited to - the choice of power for the lights and logic, wire routing, shielding of power and data cables, the type and size of your inverter, whether it has its own shielding, how you route your cables, etc. The fact that these are used inside PCs is testament to the fact that not every installation will have these issues, or that they are easily solved.
I have chosen not to include CCFD lights on any of my robots, but if I were to do so, I would probably power them from a battery or supply that was electrically isolated from the one from which I was drawing the power for my logic boards, or if I had to power them from the same source, I would make sure that I had plenty of buffering on the line, to filter out any high-frequency fluctuations which may manifest themselves in unexpected ways. I would be prepared to shield and/or filter the power lines for the CCFD lights to knock down potential RFI from them. Any RFI which they may or may not produce would probably be far enough away in frequency from any WiFi, Bluetooth, or PS2-type controllers to cause direct interference with them, but since any wire carrying a current is effectively an antenna, Iād be aware of the fact that the lights could potentially be a source of rogue signals on data lines, in cases of unexpected results or behavior.
Iām not trying to dissuade the use of CCFD, or any other type of onboard lighting; shining pretties make for a nice aesthetic enhancement to a robot. Iāve just dealt with a few discharge-type lamps in the past that were electrically ādirtyā, and they played havoc with some of my radio and electronic gear whenever they were turned on. Not all such units will exhibit this behavior. As long as you keep an eye open, and take steps to mitigate any potential issues should they arise, I see no reason why they wouldnāt work fine for you.
Personally, I would be more inclined to use a number of surface-mount LEDs, strung together on thin-gauge wire. These could be driven by direct current, and be placed strategically within or around the bot, to highlight specific bits, or to put the light where you want it, rather than producing just a generalized glow. For a tube effect, embedding them in a clear plastic rod thatās been roughed up a bit with sandpaper would have a similar effect to CCFD tubes, with the added bonus that you could use multi-color LEDs to produce different colored glows. If you wanted to get really fancy, control multiple colors of LEDs with PWM from a microcontroller, to produce a gradient, or even a full spectrum of colors. You could use it as an indicator of status, sensor detection, battery power level, or something similar; a red flash could tell you from a distance that itās detected an obstacle to the left, while a green flash could indicate one to the right.
Then again, Iām just some weirdo posting to a forumā¦ 
Installing them on your robot is very easy. Im ordering some today and Im 15, so dont worry. all you need is a 12 v lipoly battery you cen buy at lynxmotion, the battery hook-up wire + an on/off switch. If you need more help there is a visual on lynxmotion.com in the project section.
just go here. (his link to the website dose not hold these parts anymore)
continue going to the website I requested previously.
here is the link to lynxmotion for info on this part:
oh and they come with an inverter, so dont worry about that
AFAIK, Jim doesnāt sell any LiPo batteries, or even any 12V batteries, for that matter.
In the tutorial link that youāve provided, Jim is hooking it up to the BotBoard.
Thus, the 7.2V NiMh (not 12V LiPo) is being shared by both the BotBoard and the lights.
This may not be a good idea for two reasons:
The first, as mentioned above, is that the inverter may create a ādirtyā electrical signal.
The second is that the lights draw .3 Amps.
Which means, for each light, youāve got the equivalence of powering another servo.
It would probably be best to isolate the light circuit from the rest of your robot (attach the lights directly to their own battery, and use a second battery for the botās electronics).
The biggest issues with robotics arise from power (whether itās batteries or a power supply).
When possible, itās nice to simplify those things.
But thatās just my $0.02.
yes that is a good idea. I build surveillance robots and its always a good idea to have lighting, cameras ect. hooked up seperately from the robot (on their own) just incase failure of your robot ect you would still have contact with it.
by the way im 15 YAY!
Wow lots and lots of concerns with voltage, RF interferance, isolation, etcā¦ I have always used the lights with 7.2vdc even thought they are rated for 12vdc. I routinely use the same supply asn the logic too. I have never had any ill effects with the microcontrollers or the play station remote control. Oh, and I routinely use two dual light systems on the robots.
Donāt be so worried, jump in the lights are cool!
The only bad side to using them are the current consumption. 300mA per light pair. 
I agree with Robot Dudeā¦ the noise that will come from the inverter is nothing to worrie about. If it was most of the case modders (I am one) would not use them and I have one next to my Mobo and Hard Drives were you need to a clean signal. You dont want RF noise interfering with the IDE or SATA cable or you would have data corruption.
do I have to mess with that big bulky inverter or could I just takea 8-9vlt DC batteriym from duracell or something and rig that uop witha on/off switch? to me that seems much easier. or are you saying it takes dc battery feed and converts into ac? I donāt think I get what a DC inverter isā¦
If I remember correctly, you got the part about an inverter right.
An inverter converts DC to AC.
An on-off switch would not supply AC current.
Yes, youāre pretty much stuck with a bulky inverter.