Paper or Plastic? Pair of mini scanners

**mikkojay** · 10-04-2009, 03:59

I thought I'd share a couple pics of my latest- a pair of mini RGY scanners.
I saw these old grocery store scanners and thought the cases would be perfect for what I wanted. They are, of course, "laser scanners" so why not?

I put some more pics with comments in an album here:
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...hp?albumid=140

They are getting pretty near completion, so I'll post more as things come together.
The lasers are LaserWave 100mw 532nm from Dave "The Man" at LSP and (very soon) some tasty Red Lava 130mw 642nm from DrLava.
Scanners are DT25 from our friend DZ

-Mike

Before:

A local machine shop gave me a great deal on 2 cut-to-fit 1/4" AL plates. The standoffs are from the original guts of the scanner. The next picture has the main plate flipped over so I could work on things. Its more compact when it is oriented in its actual upside down position.

Ready to close- dimensions are 9x11x5

On a stand:

**chad** · 10-04-2009, 18:30

That is awesome! You even have a built in emission indicator..

chad

**Laser Ben** · 10-04-2009, 19:19

That is a great use of the box! Very nice work!

**mikkojay** · 10-04-2009, 21:29

Hey thanks guys- yeah, I had the emission indicator thought the instant I saw the front of these

Building two identical projectors side by side has been interesting. I do a little on one, then do the same to the other (only twice as fast, and just a bit better). These projectors are just falling into place so far- I cannot wait to get some red in there and fire them up!
-Mike

**300EVIL** · 10-04-2009, 23:41

That's really cool! Nice work and very creative. Be sure to remove the "Class 1 Laser Product" stickers.

**mikkojay** · 10-05-2009, 01:23

Thanks Adam- hey, what is the status of the board/kit you mentioned in this thread?: ILDA Compliant Projector Safety Board...
These boxes are at the stage of the build where it would be a perfect time to integrate some safety features into what little room I have leftover. That small all-in-one board would be great.
I'm going to try to print a few of my own labels, we'll see if my printer can produce something worthwhile.
-Mike

**300EVIL** · 10-05-2009, 01:44

Originally Posted by mikkojay

Thanks Adam- hey, what is the status of the board/kit you mentioned in this thread?: ILDA Compliant Projector Safety Board...
These boxes are at the stage of the build where it would be a perfect time to integrate some safety features into what little room I have leftover. That small all-in-one board would be great.
I'm going to try to print a few of my own labels, we'll see if my printer can produce something worthwhile.
-Mike

Hey Mike,
Good and bad. Unfortunately I've been really busy lately and haven't worked on it much. However, I have come up with a very good game plan on it and I think everyone will appreciate the final result. Versitility, ease of integration, expandability and ofcourse safety are my top priorities for this project. I have the circuits all basically laid out but I need help with a little programming. This C++ stuff requires more of a learning curve than I'm willing to dive into right now. I am working out a deal with a local programmer to help me out and get it sorted. Maybe I'll have something to show by December, we'll see though.

**mikkojay** · 10-05-2009, 09:51

That sounds good- there is no sense in rushing a good design. C++ can sure be finicky- sounds interesting. Keep us posted on that one, I am sure there are a lot of people besides myself who are interested in that project.
-Mike

**Things** · 10-07-2009, 08:52

Hi, nice work!

Would you be willing to sell the HeNe tubes and the hexagonal scanners? I have a project I could use these with. If so, how much would you want?

Cheers,
Dan

**mikkojay** · 10-07-2009, 10:05

Hey Dan,
I guess because of the distance, the only thing would be shipping costs- I wonder if anyone here knows the most economical method to ship from USA to AU? You can basically have them for asking

I just need to figure out the shipping deal. I cut one of the high tension leads on one of the tubes while dismantling, the other one is pretty much left whole as in the pic. I left enough length so it should be a snap to solder back. Send me a PM and we should be able to figure something out.
-Mike

**mikkojay** · 10-13-2009, 21:25

Just a couple of initial quickie graphics shots- sorry no beams yet (I'd have to either lug the hazer upstairs, or move the rest of my mess downstairs)
I don't have a nice solo red pic yet, but from these samples you can see that the red mixes well with the green to make some nice yellows and oranges.

Tonight I tore the one completed projector down again, because I needed to improve the airflow. I had a small existing inlet hole covered using an electrostatic filter material. This provided insufficient flow- I knew because when I screwed in the UV filter window, the fan started to sing loudly. I cut a square hole in the bottom of each case approximately 2.5 x 3.5. I bought a vacuum hepa filter at Sears, and cut it in half for a buy one get one free effect. These will be lightly siliconed to the new square openings.

While the paint is drying, I am going to go play with some software...

-Mike

**mikkojay** · 11-26-2009, 02:19

OK, it only took a month or so, but I messed with some software, finished both scanners, AND lugged the hazer up to the bedroom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nn0-ron7pE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LisWf...eature=channel

-Mike

**QUAZAR** · 11-26-2009, 03:16

Thats some nice work there. Excellent bit of recycling.

**shrad** · 11-26-2009, 03:25

are you the creator of that software? really AMAZING

**mikkojay** · 11-26-2009, 03:34

Yes and thanks! It has been consuming me for about 2 months now. I actually made the mini-scanners because I wanted to test some software ideas. I really want to focus on orchestrating multiple scanners simultaneously. Its been a fun challenge so far

Thanks, Mike

**flecom** · 11-28-2009, 14:12

Originally Posted by mikkojay

Yes and thanks! It has been consuming me for about 2 months now. I actually made the mini-scanners because I wanted to test some software ideas. I really want to focus on orchestrating multiple scanners simultaneously. Its been a fun challenge so far

Thanks, Mike

very cool software, i like the idea of controlling 3 projectors since thats exactly what i had planned on doing eventually

**mikkojay** · 08-10-2010, 00:23

I finally got around to adding the 445 to these things & fired them up both simultaneously for the first time tonight.
I still have some tweaks to make, but some of the split frame ideas I wanted to try seem to be working

Here are a couple pics and vids. I want to get this all tightened up so I can bring it to MIDLEM

-Mike

Dither Wave Test
3Scan Wave Example
3Scan Zoom Test

**dave** · 08-10-2010, 01:28

awesome! Nice work

**Things** · 08-10-2010, 01:53

Nice work

That magenta 445nm makes is really beautiful, isn't it?

**mikkojay** · 08-10-2010, 02:12

Thanks guys- yes, the 445 makes all the colors really pop. The middle projector is an older graphics projector using 473 and 660, while the mini's are using 445/642. My camera sucks at picking up laser light (I think I need to play with the settings), but the beam color of the mini scanners really does eat the other one for breakfast!
It might be worthwhile to open the hood on that one and see if I have any room left...
-Mike

Thread: Paper or Plastic? Pair of mini scanners

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Paper or Plastic? Pair of mini scanners

A couple beam vids

3 at once- finally!

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