Trilite: Modular Portable Radio-Controlled Uplighting

As part of our ongoing development of innovative lighting fixtures, we were keen to explore the idea of a truly portable, radio-controlled up light — something compact, flexible, and powerful enough for professional accent lighting, without unnecessary complexity or excessive output.

The result was a fixture we affectionately named Trilite.

Trilite takes its name from its distinctive triangular form. Within its compact body are three upward-facing LED light engines arranged in a triangle, producing a clean and effective up light. The triangular design was chosen very deliberately: it allows multiple units to tessellate neatly together, enabling users to build up anything from small clusters to large-scale lighting arrays.

Each Trilite contains three independently controllable outputs, providing a level of pixel-style control. This means fixtures can be run as a single unified source, or split into three separate pixels for more dynamic effects. When arranged in groups, the triangular geometry also makes it possible to form circular or patterned arrays with impressive visual precision.

To make the system truly modular, magnets are integrated into the sides of each unit. This allows multiple Trilites to snap together effortlessly, creating larger combined fixtures while naturally increasing total light output simply by adding more units in one location.

A key goal of the project was achieving the right balance of brightness and battery life. Many up lights on the market are capable of extremely high output, but in most real-world accent lighting applications they are rarely used at full intensity. Higher output demands larger power consumption, which reduces runtime — something we wanted to avoid. Trilite was therefore designed to deliver just the right amount of light for accent use, while maximising operational lifetime.

Early prototypes featured an in-house assembled and welded battery pack, paired with a custom battery management system. Charging is handled simply via a USB-C connection, making the units practical and convenient for regular use.

The housing itself plays an important functional role: the triangular case acts as the primary heat sink for the LEDs and was produced as a custom extrusion. The base is shaped to sit securely on the floor, and a subtle downward glow was also included — allowing fixtures to remain visible in dark environments and reducing the risk of crew accidentally walking into them on set.

Trilite fixtures are fully radio controlled and support a range of operating modes, including static colour output, grouped control, or advanced three-pixel effects. Interestingly, the three-point arrangement also enables the creation of movement and surface animation from a single fixture, by shifting light between the individual emitters.

To complete the system, we developed a custom onboard menu interface integrated into the base, allowing users to quickly switch modes and configure features directly from the unit.

Trilite is a versatile, modular uplighting solution — combining portability, wireless control, creative flexibility, and thoughtful industrial design.