newb alert. help me into this laser code writin' stuff please...

ok some progress this morning.

i wasn't getting my first debug statement cuz my etherdream.dll using code was global so happening before my startup code. and was blowing cuz my pointers to the dll's functions were not done right.

so now i got a DOT that moves in a circle. Not amazing, but my first "Steve controlled light" :)

But the dot was red/magenta instead of white so I'm guessing my ead_pnt_s isn't properly aligned.

EtherDream.dll seems to use ead_pnt_s's .X,Y,R,G,B,I members.
And r/g/b/i seeeeem (from demo code) to scale from 0 to 32767.

But r=g=b=i=32767 gave me a pretty red/magenta-ish-at-least dot.

Pretty dang bright tho!! I had it terminated on wallboard painted flat yellow only about 5 inches away.
And my 400 nW dot was too bright to comfortably look at.

Is that normal? I mean I know I gotta be careful with this thing.
But I thought that non glossy surfaces were totally safe.
I also saw in the manual that you shouldn't shine it directly on your hand...???
Is that true ??
Is this thing more dangerous than I think it is?

Well, I'll def be using this on something flatTER and further away.

And I'm thinking that within my own code, x and y will range 0-65535 from left->right, top->bot like
any other graphics code expects.
And r,g,b will be unsigned bytes.
And I'll just keep a big ole point buffer in my dll accessing code that has stuff the way the
EtherDream expects it.

Then I tackle point optimization to minimize "blank line bleed" and "curved out angles".

Then I try my hand at the dang 3d junk. But that won't be for a while.

Not much progress yet. But at least I'm off the ground :)
Hardware and firmware? CHECK.
Driver code? pretty close.
App code? a ways to go but fun travels.

OH and what is the .I - I'm guessing intensity ? How does it factor in with .R/G/B ??

and the other 2 (.AL and .AR) - I'm guessing EtherDream just junks WHATever they are ?

Anybody know cuz even the demo code doesn't seem to know...

When scanning the danger is minimal (though you should still avoid exposure) but when you've got a single beam moving slowly, that's the worst case scenario for safety. Think of is like holding your hand under a hot water faucet versus swiping through. If you hold your hand there, you get burnt, if you swipe, you barely feel it. It's all about the amount of energy that enters you over a certain period of time. Be careful!

I is intensity. It can be used for single color projectors I guess. I don't think there is a standard way for specifying the value relative to RGB. If you search in this forum there is a discussion or two about it.

AL/AR is for audio streaming. I think you can ignore that. It was created when creating a driver for soundcard DACs.

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But I thought that non glossy surfaces were totally safe.

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Exciting progress!

Glossy surfaces tend to reflect more of the beam energy while flat surfaces tend to absorb more of the beam energy. Looking at the 400mW beam's reflection on a surface will not likely hurt your retina although it will be uncomfortable to look at if the beam is not moving.

The 'I' variable is for Indexed colors in 3D images (XYZ) and is not used in 2D images (XY).

Hmmm so maybe Intensity, maybe color Index eh...

I'll test it and see if it does anything to the color.


But I'm not in any danger if I stick my hand into a direct close stream of a 400 nW laser, right?
Just if it somehow reflects into my eye, right?

And if the beam is hitting some flat paint on wallboard, I'm still fine even if the projector
is only 5 inches away from the wall?


Time to see if I can git the color a workin' :)

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But I'm not in any danger if I stick my hand into a direct close stream of a 400 nW laser, right?
Just if it somehow reflects into my eye, right?

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No issues putting your hand in the beam of your power level, but direct reflection by a mirror into your eye is to be avoided especially if the beam is not moving or moving slowly. There's plenty of energy there in a 400mW stationary or slowly moving beam to permanently burn your retina. I know, I have 3 or 4 burns in one of my eyes from lasers.

Read the ILDA standards.

Yikes. Laser burns in your eye. That sounds terrible :(

Ok I wondered about that "putting your hand in the beam thing".
They probably meant for a higher power laser or sooomething.

Yeah I think I need to pack the ead_pnt_s structure.
It's probably being aligned for fast member access and not jammed together the way the .dll expects it.

I'll let yall know how I do tomorrow. Yeah this coding is as fun as I expected it'd be :)))

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Originally Posted by stephenhazel

Hmmm so maybe Intensity, maybe color Index eh...

I'll test it and see if it does anything to the color.


But I'm not in any danger if I stick my hand into a direct close stream of a 400 nW laser, right?
Just if it somehow reflects into my eye, right?

And if the beam is hitting some flat paint on wallboard, I'm still fine even if the projector
is only 5 inches away from the wall?


Time to see if I can git the color a workin' :)

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I have never heard of using the I channel for color index for 3D. Maybe someone does that but it would be new to me. The ILDA connector has RGB pins and also an I pin. The I pin works exactly the same as the color pins from an electrical standpoint. I think most projectors don't even use that pin but some single color projectors MIGHT. Not sure. What is implemented in at least a couple software packages is that if any of RGB is non zero, the I is set to max (255). I can check my code if you want me to verify it but I consulted Pangolin prior to implementing it and that is what I was told they were doing so I followed them.

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Originally Posted by stephenhazel

But I'm not in any danger if I stick my hand into a direct close stream of a 400 nW laser, right?

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Please don't do that. A 400mW standing beam is still plenty powerful and capable of lighting cigarettes, especially using tight single mode diodes.