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Thread: Cool idea, except for the laser safety angle...

  1. #1
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    Exclamation Cool idea, except for the laser safety angle...

    Someone mounted a WiFi LaserCube to the handlebars of their bike and linked it to a GPS app on their phone to draw a directional arrow and "distance to destination" figures on the ground in front of their bike. It made the front page of Reddit today.

    https://old.reddit.com/r/nextfucking...gps_on_a_bike/

    While in theory this is a cool idea, in practice you've got a 2.5 watt laser projector mounted at waist level on a moving vehicle... (shudder)

    Adam

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    ... but should be OK with a pocket-beamer?

    Viktor
    Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - https://reprap.org/forum/list.php?426
    Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - https://reprap.org/forum/list.php?425

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    Default Wow

    Too bad a cop didn’t catch him, that was an extreme risk to the public and all aspects of it! Laser projector could’ve vibrated loose change the direction of beam projection or even fallen off and bounced around putting the beam of all around laser hazard or what if he dumped his bike wrecked it yeah It was not a good idea! He’s lucky that Murphy’s Law didn’t take hold!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lasertize View Post
    Too bad a cop didn’t catch him, that was an extreme risk to the public and all aspects of it! Laser projector could’ve vibrated loose change the direction of beam projection or even fallen off and bounced around putting the beam of all around laser hazard or what if he dumped his bike wrecked it yeah It was not a good idea! He’s lucky that Murphy’s Law didn’t take hold!
    make it a heads up display type thing by mounting a clear slightly frost plate for it to project onto. Honestly for the effort, he could have gone vr glasses

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lasertize View Post
    Too bad a cop didn’t catch him!
    How many street cops would even understand what's going on here, or the safety factors, or the laws surrounding it?

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    BTW, Buffo, thanks for taking down the reddit idiots that think they're instant experts in all-things-laser. It gets worse lower in the thread, too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by HankLloydRight View Post
    How many street cops would even understand what's going on here, or the safety factors, or the laws surrounding it?
    Damned few, I suspect.

    Honestly, if you didn't know what a "class IV laser device" was, you would probably think this was really cool. (And I agree that in the abstract, it is a cool idea; it's just a terrible idea from the laser safety point of view.)

    From an enforcement standpoint, the CDRH basically has no teeth when it comes to this. (The dude isn't involved in any commerce.) Local authorities could probably go after him using some sort of public endangerment law, but that only works if the street cop recognizes the danger, which is unlikely.

    Quote Originally Posted by HankLloydRight View Post
    BTW, Buffo, thanks for taking down the reddit idiots that think they're instant experts in all-things-laser. It gets worse lower in the thread, too.
    Thanks! I don't post on Reddit very often, but when I do, I try to fight the good fight.

    Adam

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    Maybe those wearing styrofoam hats when they ride a bike will be willing to add a shoebox to that for an AR/VR headset, but that will only decrease their safety as it removes all periferal views. A heads-up display made by reflection off something might work for those riding recumbents with a windshield, but I think their heads move around too much for real-world eye boxes. Bicycle vibrations don't treat scanners well. First time it hits the deck, it's done.

  9. #9
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    As a prophetic, experienced, biker, I hope he knows how expensive it will be if he dumps the bike on its side some evening. Most certainly a Y mirror might shear off it's shaft. Plus he's looking down when he needs to be heads up. Round here, he'll get bright reflections from crud on the ground, too.

    Seems well coded though. I take it the Lasercube has a API?

    Steve
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    ... so again - why not a pocket-beamer? - smaller, less sensitive, could be fixed to the base (so less prone to ripp-off) -- and something less expensive, compared to a glass2 goggles or such ...

    Viktor
    Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - https://reprap.org/forum/list.php?426
    Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - https://reprap.org/forum/list.php?425

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