Page 12 of 82 FirstFirst ... 2891011121314151622 ... LastLast
Results 111 to 120 of 815

Thread: post your eye melty abstracts here

  1. #111
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    38.9235N -89.9345W
    Posts
    20

    Default

    @ DZ: SELEM? Dunno, depends on where/when and how finished/travel-worthy the beast is. But I'm always happy to chat about circuitry, not that I'm doing anything special, and I never turn down an opportunity to learn.

    @ cfavreau: As far as what the controls do, sometimes I don't even know, and I built the danged thing.

    Seriously though, the top section is mostly image generation.

    Basically, this:

    x = (R+r)cos(t)-(r+O)cos(((R+r)/r)t
    y = (R+r)sin(t)-(r+O)sin(((R+r)/r)t

    From right to left:

    Two oscillators: One is a quasi-quadrature oscillator that generates the baseline of the cycloid, sin/tri/square wave, the concentric control (rotary switch & pot) is rate and range, the control above is symmetry, the next pot is level/gain, and there's a phase adjust control. The second oscillator is the modulator for the cycloid, similar controls.
    The two rotary switches are to select the waveform or an external signal (audio, typically or the audio amplitude envelope signal) The two toggle switches select cycloid/lissajous mode and enable voltage controlled amplifiers (VCA) that do amplitude modulation of the generator and modulation signals before they hit the multipliers that do the actual cycloid generation. The section with the two joysticks control gain and offset of the multipliers, the top one acts like a 'perspective' control visually, the other is hard to describe other than to say it does 'twisty' things to the image. Next are two more oscillators to drive the VCAs previously described with controls from rate/range/symmetry/gain and waveform select. Then there are offset and gain controls for the VCAs. The next section is no longer used, a couple of oscillator and amplifiers that did color modulation when I was using HeNe & Ar (I had a very weird electromechanical contraption). The joystick on the right used to be for position, but has been replaced by the new one I just built on the far lower right. There was a level control for that and a master level control before the image went to the scanner amps. The switches along the front edge were for the main shutter and beam pick-offs to go to lumias, some were motor controls.

    The chopper panel, left to right:

    Sensitivity for the audio envelope (had to put it somewhere) Range/rate/symmetry controls for an oscillator that can frequency modulate the actual chopper oscillator. Switches are FM on/off, FM signal normal/invert. Next is frequency, range and duty cycle for the chopper oscillator, switches are normal/invert, 'default' state for the cancel switches. The colored switches enable/bypass the chopper for each color RGB.

    Color Modulator, left to right:

    Controls for oscillator that is FM source for the other 3 oscillators, range/rate/symmetry/waveform select. three toggle switches to enable FM for each of the other three oscillators, next three switches enable AM modulation of the other three oscillator from an external source, selected by next three switches. There there are the 3 oscillators that do the actual color modulation, controls are FM gain/range/rate/symmetry/AM gain. Rotary switch selects waveform sin/tri/sw or external source. Now, even though the controls are colored RGB, they don't necessarily control that color laser, but that's how I'd start out. I can actually assign any one of the three oscillators (or its inverted signal) to any of the three lasers. The small push buttons step the selection up/down (the leds in that column lite to indicate the assignment) or I can go full on or full off. The three colored pots on the right are intensity controls for each laser and then a master intensity control. The small black push button resets the channel assignments to all on.

    Joystick control:

    The stick is x-y position, switches are for reversing direction, swapping the axes, and a damper circuit. Pots are for base offset and output level.

    Front panel (though you can't see it in the pic) left to right:

    Main power (switch/breaker), key switch, laser start pushbutton (with power on delay) laser stop, main shutter, and circuit breakers for all the power busses (+/- 12V regulated, +/- 20V unregulated, +12V unregulated high current for motors/solenoids and things)

    I think that about sums it up.

    The scanner drivers are in a separate enclosure with their own independent power supply. The optical/mechanicals are still being put together, I'll post pics of that mess sometime later.

    I'm in the middle of rebuilding the cycloid generator now, I've come up with much better quadrature oscillators, I'm adding x/y/z axis rotation matrix. As I've got 3 pairs of scanners, I'm going to put in independent rotation/offset that can be slaved to the position joy stick or z-axis control joystick (not yet mounted).

    And just the other day I stumbled onto using a stepper motor as a rotary encoder, a kind of poor-man's synchro, but I think will be very handy for lumia and scan glass positioning.

  2. #112
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    SoCal / San Salvador / NY
    Posts
    4,018

    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by AnAnonymousParty View Post
    ...pick-offs...chopper...FM...AM modulation...intensity...Joystick... cycloid generator....lumia and scan glass...
    Dude.. who *are* you, Man?? ....Are you another 'closet Laserium-laserist'?? ...Why do I suspect?

    a) You clearly have an appreciation for the importance and wonder of chop and modulation, both for scans and color..
    b) You even *know* what a Joystick should-be used for, let alone - you built-one in..
    c) You have no *labels* on your control-panels..
    d) You have integrated *scan glasses*, which - even the term, was most-probably coined in the dungeons of LII, no?...
    e) You spell 'Lumia' correctly (..."lumina" was a cheesy Chevy-sedan from the 80's, people!!!

    ..At the very-least, discussing your (awesome, btw..) build, using terminology like this, clearly you must-be of the 'Old Guard' / School, so.. in any case, of kindred-spirit..

    Also:
    Quote Originally Posted by AnAnonymousParty View Post
    Main power (switch/breaker), key switch, laser start pushbutton (with power on delay) laser stop, main shutter, and circuit breakers for all the power busses
    ..ayeup - you're from the Old School, alright.. KIDDIES - *THAT* IS HOW YOU KEEP THE CEE-DEE-ARR-AYCH HAPPY / OFF YER BACK!! Not that difficult, and *this guy* has got it in his Garage-project, so.. if He can do it 'right', for just an 'at-play' pj, surely You can, for going out, slinging tens of Watts above yer audiences eyeballs, ya?

    Anyhoo, nice to 'e-meet ya', and perhaps we'll cya round, sometime..
    ciao
    j
    Last edited by dsli_jon; 05-31-2013 at 13:58.
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  3. #113
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    38.9235N -89.9345W
    Posts
    20

    Default

    Who am I? I ain't nobody special. Just a guy from St. Louis who saw Laserium as a kid and the novelty never wore off. I interviewed for a job as a 'lasererist' there around 1980 but they picked some other guy. So I decided I'd build something like it myself one day, and did before I was 25, a 10mW HeNe in a PVC tube, an ALC60X and a pair of GS G120PDTs that I got for $50 (yeah, $50 -they didn't know what they had there in 1984). The projector was built by trial and error, home-brew DIY electronics (oh the scanner amp designs I tried and tossed). See, I'm a software guy by trade (30+ years), started in 6800/6809 assy, went to C/C++, did some web stuff on the side and now do C++/C#/WPF. The laser hobby is my escape from software and I plan to keep it computer free.

    Now, if anybody remembers a company called Red-Line Lasers, they made a product called the Beam Scan (XYP-1000 I think it might have also been called) and the Beam Box; I helped design 'em and wrote all the software (6809 and PICs) as a weekend contractor, that's the only real 'industry credentials' I have.

    The computer based, programmed shows are fine, I guess. I've seen a lot and even enjoyed a few; but, for me anyway, they lack the spontaneity and immediacy you get from a system such as mine. And, being a hardware and software guy, I know that digital means discrete, there are things that analog can do that digital simply can't. You might be able to programmaticly get two oscillators offset in frequency by 0.001 Hz, but I can get ALL the values in between and continuously. And in real time, all I have to do is turn a knob.

    My controls are not labeled? No, you see the thing is operated in the dark (note all the leds and lighted switches) and besides, you should be looking at the image and not the controls. I built and sold a couple of controllers like it in the late 80s and tried labeling things, as if that would help anybody anyway. It all comes down to if you don't know how to operate one of these things, labels are not going to help you. Especially when, due to the way things interact, a control may not do the same thing, visually, from one moment to the next.

    Real time color modulation and beam chopping, analog on a timebase independent of your image generation, IS wicked voo-doo magic. It can make the simple complex.

    Built a joystick? Well I had to, didn't I? You can't find analog joysticks at Gateway electronics like you used to for $5, in our digital world. (Oh, here's a way to have some fun: For one day, substitute the word 'crappy' for 'digital'.)

    Scan glasses are the sauce for your entree, it's all about presentation, right?

    If anybody is interested, I can post some photos of the electronics and other stuff.

    Thanks for the comments!

  4. #114
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    1,198

    Default

    Are you still in Stl?
    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

  5. #115
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    38.9235N -89.9345W
    Posts
    20

    Default

    Yup, Holiday Shores, Edwardsville area but working in St. Peters.

  6. #116
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    SoCal / San Salvador / NY
    Posts
    4,018

    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by AnAnonymousParty View Post
    ... saw Laserium as a kid.....controls are not labeled ...you should be looking at the image and not the controls......joystick? Well I had to, didn't I?
    ..Called-it! Knew there had to be *some* connection.. don't know of anybody that uses that terminology / philosophies, unless-so.... Welcome to PL, and will mucho-enjoyo getting to hear some more of yer 'backstory'... And yes, you should get in touch with Sir 'laserist', there...

    Quote Originally Posted by AnAnonymousParty View Post
    Now, if anybody remembers a company called Red-Line Lasers...
    ..ayeup.. http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...0&d=1232703199 / http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...1&d=1232703199 / http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...3&d=1232703199 ..(..early-attempt at my-own 'homebrew pj'...) nice 'cyc', eh? Lol..

    Anyhoo, nice to have you on-board, and Gr8 to see this 'renaissance' of the 'old-school' methods / tech... just 'adding on more XY-boxes' is getting soooooo, *yawn*... time to see the laser 'Concert' (..as-in, a 'symphony of all-manner of fx, playing in-concert'..) make it's well-deserved comeback..

    cya
    j
    Last edited by dsli_jon; 06-01-2013 at 08:58.
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  7. #117
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Native Floridian
    Posts
    3,127

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AnAnonymousParty View Post
    @ DZ: SELEM? Dunno, depends on where/when and how finished/travel-worthy the beast is. But I'm always happy to chat about circuitry, not that I'm doing anything special, and I never turn down an opportunity to learn.
    http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...310#post255310

    A weekend of playing with lasers, watching shows and talking shop, could it get any better? No need to bring equipment if you don't want to, there will be plenty there! I'll even bring this console!

  8. #118
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    1,198

    Default

    ...applied for a job around 1980...

    sounds like Steve hired the wromg guy
    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

  9. #119
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    1,198

    Default

    Some more Laserium studies

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07411small.jpg 
Views:	17 
Size:	32.0 KB 
ID:	38538Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07414small.jpg 
Views:	18 
Size:	46.3 KB 
ID:	38539Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07416small.jpg 
Views:	20 
Size:	42.6 KB 
ID:	38540
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07426small.jpg 
Views:	22 
Size:	54.4 KB 
ID:	38541Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07433small.jpg 
Views:	24 
Size:	68.6 KB 
ID:	38542Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07435small.jpg 
Views:	20 
Size:	47.4 KB 
ID:	38543
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07436small.jpg 
Views:	21 
Size:	52.4 KB 
ID:	38544Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07440small.jpg 
Views:	20 
Size:	47.7 KB 
ID:	38545Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07464small.jpg 
Views:	22 
Size:	76.7 KB 
ID:	38547
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07466small.jpg 
Views:	39 
Size:	70.3 KB 
ID:	38548Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07468small.jpg 
Views:	27 
Size:	56.4 KB 
ID:	38549Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07476small.jpg 
Views:	23 
Size:	56.1 KB 
ID:	38550
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07477small.jpg 
Views:	22 
Size:	60.1 KB 
ID:	38551Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC07504small.jpg 
Views:	26 
Size:	34.3 KB 
ID:	38552
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSC07464.JPG  

    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

  10. #120
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    San Carlos, CA
    Posts
    26

    Default

    Swami,

    The first video you post is beautiful. They all are! I would love to see what that first one (and the green one) would look like running through a lenticular lens.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •