Hacking a garbage laser to work with ILDA for an art installation

[colloportis]

Hello everyone, just another newbie here messing around with lasers for an art installation.
I acquired an absolute garbage DMX laser from amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/Sumger-Profess...s%2C364&sr=8-2)

It is by all means not great, however it is only 400 milliwatts which is as high as I'm willing to go for safety reasons.

I'm looking for advice on how to hack an ILDA interface onto this so that it's relatively safe but also controllable via TouchDesigner's Laser CHOP.
Or if there's another weird way of sending the xyzRGB coordinates directly to it I'd love to know.

I found this other kit on amazon that seems to be a relatively simple swap but again I am a newbie and would appreciate some advice. (https://www.amazon.ca/eHaiSong-Gener...ustomerReviews)

What I'm trying to achieve is very similar to what's found on this thread, just with a low output laser: https://www.photonlexicon.com/forums...=touchdesigner

Thanks!

[cfavreau]

I think you are working too hard. Just get a comparatively priced projector with an ILDA connector on it.

$180 => https://www.ebay.com/itm/385633971693 Shipped from Chino, CA.

Regarding your original question. You could probably just remove the DMX thing and wire the scanners directly to an ILDA pinout DB25 (should be really inexpensive) with solder cups or a DB25 breakout board (from Stanwax or Ebay => General purpose Ilda breakout board (stanwaxlaser.co.uk). And wire the laser modulation to the RGB connections. That's not really being relatively safe but it will probably work. Add some safety to the RGB laser modulation connections or just hack in a solenoid shutter. Here's a document which explains how a projector can be wired: Microsoft Word - ILDA _ISP99.doc

Or you can get a projector wiring board from StanWax (Ilda Interface S4 - Ilda Breakout (stanwaxlaser.co.uk)) and knock that into the projector. The StanWax board will get you closer to safe.

Now.. being an art installation that is open to the public here in the USA you will need to get a projector with a variance and also variance your installation. For a bit about that see Category A Laser Show Standard | International Laser Display Association (ilda.com) for more information on safety. If you are on a budget which I am assuming you are you might be able to purchase something from a forum member or rent or borrow a projector and get help with the other parts.

[cfavreau]

To answer your original question... if the DMX projector has a normal set of scanners in it (separate amp board with differential inputs) you could probably knock together a DB25 ILDA connector that you can get by with for less than a $5er.

[colloportis]

This is all immensely useful thank you!