Laserharps Pre-order!

[csshih]

laserharps, Laserharps, LASERHARPS!!! (I blame you EVIL)

Order em HERE: http://illuminationsupply.com/laser-harp-kit-p-72.html

These kits were crafted by member "Things" over on LPF - he knows his stuff!

here are a couple vids of some prototypes.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHsk5Mbtfd8



Ever wanted to create your own frameless laser harp? The frameless laser harp was originally conceived by Jean Michel Jarre, and has been used countless times in his performances. Frameless laser harps differ from framed harps in that they do not require anything overhead to detect the beams; everything is placed on the floor. This allows you to get creative with the beams overhead (Maybe using mirrors to bounce them over the audiences heads), and does not require expensive trussing or alignment.

These kits contain all the components for the laser harp circuitry, just connect a laser, a galvanometer scanner, and dress it up with a case.
Features:

- Professional dual layer PCBs
- All electronic components included, right down to MIDI sockets, plugs and LCD.
- High quality DAC
- 3 high quality light sensors for better performance
- 3 programmable MIDI note banks with an RGB LED indicator
- Detailed instruction manual and construction video included
- Includes sockets for fast connections to the PCB
- On board microcontroller
To complete a laser harp, you will require:
- A laser with modulation capabilities (TTL is sufficient)
- A single laser scanning galvanometer and its associated amp board (Usually sold in pairs)
- A dual rail power supply. Usually the galvanometer power supply is used. Max of +/- 24 Volts (+/-15 and +/- 24V galvanometer power supplies are common)
- 2 switches of your choice. Use foot pedals for easy operation on stage.
- Some general electrical test equipment. An oscilloscope is handy; however you should be able to get through without one.
You will also require either a MIDI-USB adapter, or a MIDI device.
(An Arduino or a FT232 serial breakout is needed if you wish to reprogram the note banks, however this is not necessary)

Please be aware, due to the nature of the laser harp, being hit by the laser beam directly (including in the face) is almost a given. Please use gloves if you intend on using a high powered laser, and goggles with a suitable OD rating if using lasers over 5mW.

Remember all : Safety is Key to a fun performance!

Order here: http://illuminationsupply.com/laser-harp-kit-p-72.html
I'm expecting everything to come in about 3 weeks.

Craig

PS: ah, yeah, shipping. 5$ for CONUS, 13$ for international (small flat rate box)

[allthatwhichis]

Can you explain what all is needed by the purchaser to get a kit fully functional; single laser and RGB. Just curious at this stage but I've been wanting one of these for a while. Might have to dig though the pile of "crap" behind me for an eBay sale.

[Things]

This current run only has 1 laser output, however if you're up for doing a bit of modding/coding yourself you could add other lasers. I may add this to the next batch, may not, it depends on what kind of interest I get in this lot. You can use any colour laser you want.

Basically, you'll require:

- A MIDI capable device - Such as a keyboard, or a USB-MIDI
- A TTL modulatable laser (analog works fine too, it just doesn't need analog)
- 2 momentary switches of your choice (And pullup resistors, say 10K). I didn't include these because it changes depending on what you're planning to use this for. Footswitches are a good choice if you want to open and close the harp subtly on stage
- A single galvo and it's amp, as well as the power supply. The galvo power supply will also power the laser harp board.
- If you wish to change the MIDI note banks, you will need a FT232 serial breakout or an Arduino to reprogram the microcontroller.
- A case, obviously
- Some general wire for connecting everything up. Ribbon cable works great for connecting devices such as the LCD screen - connectors/sockets to connect to the board are included

A little electronics experience would also be good. I'm aiming to make the instructions as clear as possible, though being able to diagnose problems will help greatly. That being said, you shouldn't require anything more than a DMM for setting it up.

Cheers,
Dan

[PhantomRage]

That would be so BAD ARSH with my E-MU Orbit or Planet Phatt!

DARN YOU PL FORUM!!! More stuff to save $$$ up of... *shrug*

[PhantomRage]

"If you wish to change the MIDI note banks, you will need a FT232 serial breakout or an Arduino to reprogram the microcontroller." - yes my quote skills suck!

Not really, you can pick up a old Moto midi time piece and it will allow you to change incoming midi notes to a different out going midi note.

That or use software.

But the Moto works good, I used it to shift up a octave from 1 Orbit to the other Orbit.

But finding the manual for the older Moto gear is a bitch!

[Carl B]

- If you wish to change the MIDI note banks, you will need a FT232 serial breakout or an Arduino to reprogram the microcontroller.

Hi Dan

I have put in my order for one of your kits but was wondering can you preprogram the three MIDI banks to my requirements before dispatch if I provide you with the MIDI note numbers info for each bank?

Also can you tell us what MIDI channel dose the harp transmit on and what is the note velocity set to.

Really looking forward to receiving this kit as I have a two week holiday coming up in two weeks time so may have a good amount of time to build it.

Carl

[Things]

@PR

That is also an option, doing it in software/external hardware.

@Carl B

I can set the note banks for you if you want.

IIRC, the channel is just 1 and the note velocity is 45. Not exactly sure on that yet, but it sounds right.

[Bradfo69]

Fifteen characters... apparently red doesn't count.

Basically, you'll require:

- A MIDI capable device - Such as a keyboard, or a USB-MIDI Will a Novation Remote Zero work or do you actually need a keyboard? -

A TTL modulatable laser (analog works fine too, it just doesn't need analog) - OK

2 momentary switches of your choice (And pullup resistors, say 10K). I didn't include these because it changes depending on what you're planning to use this for. Footswitches are a good choice if you want to open and close the harp subtly on stage OK

A single galvo and it's amp, as well as the power supply. The galvo power supply will also power the laser harp board.Does it matter X or Y? Or rated scan speed?

- If you wish to change the MIDI note banks, you will need a FT232 serial breakout or an Arduino to reprogram the microcontroller.
- A case, obviously
- Some general wire for connecting everything up. Ribbon cable works great for connecting devices such as the LCD screen How many conductor and what length?- connectors/sockets to connect to the board are included

[allthatwhichis]

Fifteen characters... apparently red doesn't count.

[Things]

@Bradfo69

Any device that takes MIDI signals and does something with them will work. You could use the laser harp to control Quickshow if you wanted

The code is designed for 20-30Kpps galvos. You can use slower if you want, but you'd need to change the scan rate.

The LCD needs 8 conductors, length is whatever it takes to mount it where you want in your case.

[Carl B]

@Carl B

I can set the note banks for you if you want.

IIRC, the channel is just 1 and the note velocity is 45. Not exactly sure on that yet, but it sounds right.

That would be great Dan. I will PM you the note bank details if that is OK, also if possible can you set the velocity to MAX (127 is max according to my Technics manual) as the harp track voice will not be loud enough to hear over the rest of the sounds within the song sequences on my keyboard. The MIDI transmiter I have in my framed harp has the velocity set to MAX and my song tracks are set up for that velocity.

I am correct in thinking this is a 10 beam harp.

Carl

[Stoney3K]

It sounds like you may be overdriving the galvo slightly. It's making a lot of noise and scanning at a very wide angle... you may want to look at that.

Any chance you can get spare boards out which only have the light sensors and amplifiers? Getting a scanning beam pattern out of an AVR/Arduino is the easy part, but making a good optical front-end, there's the challenge. If we have a 'standardized' detection front end, there's lots of cool stuff you can do expanding on the laser harp concept.

Minimum laser power required? Something tells me 30mW is not going to cut it.

[mccarrot]

Minimum laser power required? Something tells me 30mW is not going to cut it.

I heared jean michel jarre is using 20W green, he needs to wear white gloves to prevent burning his fingers.

[Stoney3K]

I heared jean michel jarre is using 20W green, he needs to wear white gloves to prevent burning his fingers.

That has been a complete fable from the beginning. In the 80's, he was using multi-watt rigs for outdoor concerts (among others, La Defense) and he had to use asbestos gloves to prevent his hands from burning. This was more to be safe than sorry, however.

Today he uses DPSS and I've seen the system up close in the Heineken Hall. It looked to be some standard 500mW or 1W green DPSS, and if you look at more recent concert footage, for example, this year's Monaco concert, you will see that the harp is completely swamped out by stage lighting, that's why they have to dim nearly all te effects just to make the damn thing visible in the first place.

The white gloves are just a good trick to improve the scatter off his hands, which means more light from the laser harp reaches the sensors underneath. Plus, they add a touch of showmanship for the audience, since they will also be able to see Jarre's hands more clearly.

[mccarrot]

I might be interested, but i would like to know how thr design quality is. Can you post pictures of the sensors and the pcb?

[Stoney3K]

I might be interested, but i would like to know how thr design quality is. Can you post pictures of the sensors and the pcb?

Same here.

Hint: You may be able to find a decent set of 'suitable' galvos for these and an O-like 445nm for a fair price, so you could sell complete packages for something like $350-400.

[Bradfo69]

Wanted..... one set of galvos where someone blew up the x or y. Cheap.

[allthatwhichis]

Wanted..... one set of galvos where someone blew up the x or y. Cheap.

I got a few spares lying around; at least 2 if not 3. Older PT20Ks and a PT30K I think. Depending on how SELEM goes I might try to grab one of these also.

[Bradfo69]

Cool. (PM replied to. ) The rest I can get this weekend I think. I host a computer show and sale about four times a year and often the vendors have other misc electronics stuff so ribbon cable, a case of some sort and the switched may be easy to score.

[Things]

Like the thread says, this is a pre-order, so I do not have all the components with me just yet. The components (or majority of them) should show up this week (The light sensors are already in, but waiting on a bulk lot with the rest), and hopefully the PCB's too. Then I will get pictures of the kits, as well as create an instructional video as I assemble one and do testing etc.

@Stoney3K, yeah, I think it may be a possibility. However, scan speed can be adjusted in the code, you'd just have to play around and find the best point for your galvos without it being too flickery.


@Carl B

You could probably do more, however 10 notes is just spaced far enough to fit your hand between if the harp is at your feet. I believe Jarre puts his harp beneath the stage to allow the beams to diverge more first.

[Jem]

O.K., being a simple sort of person let me tell you what I would really like and then you can tell me if your box of tricks is capable doing what I ask .

I already have a nice, capable RGB laser projector with some reasonable CT6215h scanners. I would like to place said projector on the floor and put a 45 degree mirror at the output aperture to deflect the beam vertically. Then I would like to take a box of electrickery goodies (such as your offering here) and plug it into the ILDA connector on the back of my projector. Next, I would also like to plug the box of electrical wizardry into my PC (running Cubase) and have the VST instruments present me with some wonderful sounds each time a beam is interrupted, In other words I would like to switch it all on and it work perfectly .

As an added bonus I would like to see the beam that has been broken change colour, also, it would be nice to be able to move my hand up and down in the beam to modulate the sound, Oh, and it can also change colour with modulation as well

Perhaps someone would like to send me a PM when my ultimate laser harp is available

Cheers

Jem

[Carl B]

@Carl B

You could probably do more, however 10 notes is just spaced far enough to fit your hand between if the harp is at your feet. I believe Jarre puts his harp beneath the stage to allow the beams to diverge more first.

10 beams is more than enough for me. I was just asking in order to give you all the note info for each note bank in the PM I sent you yesterday.

Carl

[Things]

O.K., being a simple sort of person let me tell you what I would really like and then you can tell me if your box of tricks is capable doing what I ask .

I already have a nice, capable RGB laser projector with some reasonable CT6215h scanners. I would like to place said projector on the floor and put a 45 degree mirror at the output aperture to deflect the beam vertically. Then I would like to take a box of electrickery goodies (such as your offering here) and plug it into the ILDA connector on the back of my projector. Next, I would also like to plug the box of electrical wizardry into my PC (running Cubase) and have the VST instruments present me with some wonderful sounds each time a beam is interrupted, In other words I would like to switch it all on and it work perfectly .

As an added bonus I would like to see the beam that has been broken change colour, also, it would be nice to be able to move my hand up and down in the beam to modulate the sound, Oh, and it can also change colour with modulation as well

Perhaps someone would like to send me a PM when my ultimate laser harp is available

Cheers

Jem

About connecting it up thru ILDA, it's definitely possible. The only issue is you need to get +/- power from somewhere, usually the galvo PSU, but if it's external you may need an independent power supply. Other option is you allocate 3 unused pins in the DB25 and send power through that, but that's risky because they may be connected somewhere on your real DAC.

Apart from that, all you have is a +/- Gnd galvo signal, and a laser modulation signal.

As for the changing colours, not possible out of the box with this kit, however you can probably do a little modding yourself and add another laser output etc.

Moving your hand up and down in the beam is a whole new box of worms, most of the time you need to use cameras for that, not light sensors.

Cheers,
Dan

[csshih]

Hey All,

Please note that when you check out on the website, it will say "back-ordered." That's because they're not in stock yet, you can still pay for the item!
Any ordering problems, please email me at my sales email sales_at_illuminationsupply.com (replace _at_ with @).

Craig

[Things]

Good news, the majority of the components arrived! Now just waiting on the PCB's, LCD's and some RGB LED's