A new Project: Use of laser projector connected to an APP on a phone or a remote.

[Dojo]

Hello all.

I have come seeking wisdom in subject for which i am not very knowledgeable, and i am hoping i can find some help here.

What i want is to project a laser pattern onto a surface from above. i want it to be capable of projecting several different patterns of exact dimensions.
So if the table is a 6x4' table or a 4x4' table and you tell it the Z axis from origin to the table surface, you should be able to have patters outlining areas of the table starting from the correct coordinates.

what i need out of a laser is the following capabilities.
Project static lines from a list of programmed patterns no movement needed, just lines on the table.
ability to infill zones with color (not a necessity)
Be programmable (perhaps interface with a computer for programming the shapes)
I want to be able to connect this apparatus to either a phone via app or a bluetooth remote for control.

What i think i will need.
As small of a laser as is practical (projection distance will not exceed 2 or 3 meters for the most part)
the laser lines should be bright but narrow.
either a programmable laser projector or one that can be controlled by a small CPU like raspberry PI.

I have created an example of the things i would like to project onto the surface from above.
it would be nice if this device could be battery powered to avoid having to run cables. and certainly bluetooth to control from a distance.
any input would be appreciated, and if possible a basic rundown as to what laser technologies are available today, i dont think what i require
is overly advanced as the pictures dont need to actively move, just change at the press of a button.

[james]

Laser control signals can be written into standard wave files. All you need is a 6 or 8 channel audio DAC and a way to stream to it.

[swamidog]

this is very easy to do with a small projector, LSX, and a touchOSC app running on your phone.

i've been doing very extensive work creating a laser control system using TouchOSC and i'm happy to give you a hand on the technology side.

here's a quick example of my system. your needs are way less complicated, but you won't be able to do color fills.

Hello all.

I have come seeking wisdom in subject for which i am not very knowledgeable, and i am hoping i can find some help here.

What i want is to project a laser pattern onto a surface from above. i want it to be capable of projecting several different patterns of exact dimensions.
So if the table is a 6x4' table or a 4x4' table and you tell it the Z axis from origin to the table surface, you should be able to have patters outlining areas of the table starting from the correct coordinates.

what i need out of a laser is the following capabilities.
Project static lines from a list of programmed patterns no movement needed, just lines on the table.
ability to infill zones with color (not a necessity)
Be programmable (perhaps interface with a computer for programming the shapes)
I want to be able to connect this apparatus to either a phone via app or a bluetooth remote for control.

What i think i will need.
As small of a laser as is practical (projection distance will not exceed 2 or 3 meters for the most part)
the laser lines should be bright but narrow.
either a programmable laser projector or one that can be controlled by a small CPU like raspberry PI.

I have created an example of the things i would like to project onto the surface from above.
it would be nice if this device could be battery powered to avoid having to run cables. and certainly bluetooth to control from a distance.
any input would be appreciated, and if possible a basic rundown as to what laser technologies are available today, i dont think what i require
is overly advanced as the pictures dont need to actively move, just change at the press of a button.

[Dojo]

this is very easy to do with a small projector, LSX, and a touchOSC app running on your phone.

i've been doing very extensive work creating a laser control system using TouchOSC and i'm happy to give you a hand on the technology side.

here's a quick example of my system. your needs are way less complicated, but you won't be able to do color fills.

The inability to color fill is not a major concern at least. But i am completely new to laser tech. Whats a DAC? and why would audio have anything to do with projecting a laser? Are there lasers that would be able to statically draw my lines on a board or is is just a single ray tracing a pattern very quickly giving the illusion of a solid line faster than a humans 60hz eye capability.

What are some good Lasers for this purpose? and are most able to controlled by a app? or through a cpu through an app.

i apologize for my lack of basic terminology, i am a scientist but i never got into lasers hahaha. Im into rocks.

[absolom7691]

DAC = Digital Analog Converter. It takes the digital signal from the computer and converts it to an analog signal which the galvanometers are driven by.

Depending on the distance the projector is from the table it's possible but at the deflection angles you're talking about, you're not going to get a flicker free projection if the "image" has any kind of infill. Even a basic grid is hard to get flicker free.

[Dojo]

DAC = Digital Analog Converter. It takes the digital signal from the computer and converts it to an analog signal which the galvanometers are driven by.

Depending on the distance the projector is from the table it's possible but at the deflection angles you're talking about, you're not going to get a flicker free projection if the "image" has any kind of infill. Even a basic grid is hard to get flicker free.

Thats ok it is only required for a small period of time and doesn't effect anything after the initial setup. But it would be possible to do some sort if infil in this case if im willing to accept some flicker (more time to draw more rays). Im perfectly fine skipping the infill but might be nice to have, perhaps it will be easy to turn infill on or off and see teh difference. Also i assume a higher frequency pattern laser would be more expensive? im trying to keep cost down.

[james]

A 16 bit 6 or 8 channel audio card can produce any kind of signal appropriate to control a laser projector. And those signals can be stored in a standard wave file, compatible with any OS.

You have 16 bits of resolution on X and Y at 48 thousand samples (laser positions) per second. The other 3 channels are there to control the brightness of the red, green and blue lasers.

You do need to modify the sound device for this to work. You tap the DAC channels directly before the output DC blocking capacitors. An external correction amp is necessary to null out the DC offsets on the channels and give them enough gain to comply with standard laser control signals.

I offer a very nice kit of the correction amp.
http://laserboy.org/forum/index.php?topic=561.0

This device works well on a Raspberry Pi.

Also there is a frame effect in LaserBoy (my free app) that finds shapes and fills them in with many internal shapes of similar geometry, creating a kind-of filled-in look when scanned.

[swamidog]

using laserboy and pre-generated wave files with a modified audio dac is the most awkward and inflexible of all approaches.

a real time solution is so much better and easier.

A 16 bit 6 or 8 channel audio card can produce any kind of signal appropriate to control a laser projector. And those signals can be stored in a standard wave file, compatible with any OS.

You have 16 bits of resolution on X and Y at 48 thousand samples (laser positions) per second. The other 3 channels are there to control the brightness of the red, green and blue lasers.

You do need to modify the sound device for this to work. You tap the DAC channels directly before the output DC blocking capacitors. An external correction amp is necessary to null out the DC offsets on the channels and give them enough gain to comply with standard laser control signals.

I offer a very nice kit of the correction amp.
http://laserboy.org/forum/index.php?topic=561.0

This device works well on a Raspberry Pi.

Also there is a frame effect in LaserBoy (my free app) that finds shapes and fills them in with many internal shapes of similar geometry, creating a kind-of filled-in look when scanned.

[james]

using laserboy and pre-generated wave files with a modified audio dac is the most awkward and inflexible of all approaches.

a real time solution is so much better and easier.

It's pretty easy to initiate playing a wave file. It does not require any expensive, proprietary hardware or software. It works in an OS.

The OP has already said this is a simple matter of just a few static frames and that it needs to be cost effective.

In reality, a sound card dac is compatible with several laser applications that can stream to it in real time. But that is not the request here.

[swamidog]

sure, playing a wave file is trivial..

but since laserboy doesn't have a real time output, you're generating and baking waves to be stored and played back. lacking a process to edit / resize / position on the fly with visual feedback makes the process clumsy and complex.

It's pretty easy to initiate playing a wave file. It does not require any expensive, proprietary hardware or software. It works in an OS.

The OP has already said this is a simple matter of just a few static frames and that it needs to be cost effective.

In reality, a sound card dac is compatible with several laser applications that can stream to it in real time. But that is not the request here.