Open Source Laser Power Meter

[ARGLaser]

ARGMeter the Open Source Laser Power Meter

ARGMeter is an open source laser power meter platform for the Arduino. The goal of this project is to give hobbyists access to a DIY LPM design for only the cost of hardware that they can expand and modify to suit their needs. This project has been through many prototypes and many designs, and is finally ready for release.
Rather than clutter up a thread will all the details I put everything on a website for anyone to use. https://sites.google.com/site/arglaserpowermeter/home
The project is continually under design and additions are made daily, if you see a bug or mistake please PM me or post here so that I may change it.



Features

* Ophir 20C-A and TEC compatible
* Real time data logging via PC or MAC
* 2.5" Liquid Crystal Display
* Full backlight control
* Zeroing
* Peak power
* Run with 9V battery or a 9V AC plug pack
* Up to 0.1mW resolution
* Up to 60 measurements per second

TEC (Will vary based on TEC and paint used)
* 3.5W max
* 30s response time (0-95%)
* 50W/cm^2 max power density
* <1mW noise
* 400-1100nm
* True curve adjustment

Ophir 20C-A
* 4W max
* 0.8s response time (0-95%)
* 0.5mW noise
* See datasheet for full details.


Schematic/Material/Firmware


All documentation of ARGMeter can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/arglaserpowermeter/home


Licensing

ARGMeter is released under the terms of the GNU GPLv3. For more information, see the official site.
The GNU General Public License v3.0 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

[Dylan]

This is very interesting. Might have to build me one of these.

[lasersbee]

They went belly up IIRC....

Jerry

[Shadow]

I'm very interested

[lasersbee]

Hello, after much fidling with arduino, i managed to build my own laser power meter, it works based on calorimetry fundamentals and seems stable enough to read my 15 to 150watt Co2 lasers, anyone interested ?
cheers

Just a few basic questions.....

What is the lowest power it can measure accurately ?
What is the reading resolution and LPM accuracy % ?
What is the current draw ?
What is the sensing element and coating to get to a
150 watt rating ??

Jerry

[hakzaw1]

150w ??
First what is w?
do you mean 150mW??
also this thread is 5years old.. so ...a necro .
BUT nice that you are working on new LPMs ..

just try to use these=(Mw=W w, MW & mW ) correctly..

[buffo]

150w ??

Yes, he really means 150 watts Len. I guess you missed his other thread where he was talking about re-gassing a bunch of CO2 lasers.

150 watts might be high for a visible light laser, but it's nothing for a CO2 laser; depending on the model, they go into the KW. (Although for the sealed-tube, electrically-excited glass units he's working with, 150 watts is on the high end.)

Back on topic: I'm curious about the estimated final cost of one of these meters...

Adam

[VDX]

... yes, 150 Watts for a CO2 laser is no problem -- I'm using single NIR laserdiodes with CW-powers of 30 Watts or "bundled" with up to 180 Watts (6x30W on a spot of 0.3mm diameter), what's too hard to measure at full powers with my actual power meter.

Have some "Ulbricht-spheres" with a sensor inside and plans to replace the sensor for CW-powers of up to 1kW, what's the next "power-range" I'm assembling units for.

Could be, next year I have to get somethig with more precise measuring in the range of 100 Watts to 3kW for welding tests with fiber- and CO2-lasers with 3kW and 5kW, what's not so easy with the commercial power-meters ... so too interested in a DIY-concept

Viktor

[buffo]

Hi Ed;

$25 is a lot less than I was expecting! Great work on your part.

Adam

[Dendok]

How much do you expect?