There was a discussion on the forum for the WLED firmware for controlling LED pixel strips about how the K-pop group BTS coordinates light-shows at its concerts using “Army Bombs.” Army Bombs are light-sticks that fans buy and take to concerts. They can be centrally controlled and used to put on huge stadium-wide light shows.

Someone in our house is a fan of BTS. They got an “army bomb” in preparation for a show in the US that ended up being cancelled due to COVID-19. I’m not allowed to disassemble it, but I was able to look at the label in the battery compartment and get the FCC ID and find their certification info.

For some reason the internal photos are embargoed until 10/11/2010, despite the thing being in the wild. However, the test report reveals that it uses…BLE, which I already knew. It doesn’t seem to have another radio, though. I did find internal photos for a similar device, registered in 2016, from the same manufacturer. The markings on the bluetooth SoC aren’t legible in the photos, unfortunately.

I can’t find any real teardowns, but one fan took hers apart. No closeups, but its clear there isn’t an IR receiver anywhere IR could be received.

The company that makes the Army Bomb is Fanlight.