L'Harp laser harp shield for arduino

Hi everyone,

I am the maker of the laser harp shield for arduino microcontrollers.
Allthough i am not entirely done yet, i still wanted to share this with you because i need some feedback.

So the shield is everything you need except:

- arduino
- sparkfun dac
- galvanometer scanners
- powersupply 2x12..15V AC (powersupply of galvoscanners could be used)
- laser and driver

This means you don't have to do all the research testing and all that difficult stuff. It even comes with code/program for the arduino and software to program the note's to the beams.

Headers for optional add-on's are included. Such as:

- lcd 2x16
- 4 relays for save power-on
- servo
- blanking (laser (requires a laser diode driver that supports TTL blanking))
- power button ( through relays)
- program button
- open/ close button
- bank up button
- bank down button
- midi out
- sensor in (sensor is included)
- sensor sensitivity (pot)
- ILDA out (+ com -) (to galvoscanner)

*Instructions and howto included in a pdf

I'd like to know if there is any interest in this shield and what you think a reasonable price would be.
So that is for the ready to use, already build, shield.

More info here: Http://lharp.weebly.com

I think it looks very nice and is a neat idea to make a shield for the arduino with it. That being said, I would think a reasonable price would have to be at least less than the price of this: http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/laser-harp-kits-batch-2-9-left-64719.html. Perhaps, the price of that - cost of arduino (roughly $25 for a knock off). Of course, the lower the price, probably the more interest, which would mean much larger quantity of orders and perhaps lower cost for PCB boards or components.

I agree $140 is way too much! Though these are proffesional made boards while mine will be handmade.

I am now writing the rest of the code.

Some extra info: if you want to use this board, make sure to buy the correct galvo scanners. You need the 12 or 24 volt scanner psu (12 is better). With a 12v psu you can power the shield with the same powersupply. It is 15v tolerant!
This saves you an extra powersupply (2x12..15v ac).

Also the input for the scanner driver needs to be between 5..10v
Mine is driven with 5v input signal (ilda) with a 24v scanner set.

The sets on ebay are great but make sure you get the fastest one you can afford. 20KPPS is working fine. 35 KPPS is better.

I bough my set for 120 bucks of ebay.

UPDATE!

The code is mostly done. Now in the second stage of debugging the pcb design. DAC will be included on the shield. (it didn't make much sense to let you buy a component from sparkfun for 5 dollars, while i can order the component for 0.90 EURO). Also the calibration is done automaticly. This way you don't have to worry about ambient light.

If you would like to be sure to get one when the first batch is made, please reply to this message and i will let you know as soon as they're ready.

well i have a old style harp currently but someone i know wants to buy one that has alot more strings.
How many can this do?
20k galvos could 20 20 dots just fine but are your sensors and timers able to pick up 20 beams?

For now i have 11 beams. I accually haven't tried adding more. I think 20 beams might make it somewhat slow on arduino. Flickering could occur.

But thanks for the tip. I will look into it soon.

well a min of 13 would be required but 20 would be amazing.

mano1979 said:

For now i have 11 beams. I accually haven't tried adding more. I think 20 beams might make it somewhat slow on arduino. Flickering could occur.

But thanks for the tip. I will look into it soon.

Click to expand...

Nice to see more people working on LaserHarp projects...
Competition is good for the consumer...

I just read about a faster Micro-controller this morning
that you may be able to use instead of the Arduino to
get you to a higher beam count...

http://laserpointerforums.com/f70/arduino-based-lpm-using-ophir20c-project-73745.html#post1067248


Jerry

mano1979 said:

I agree $140 is way too much! Though these are proffesional made boards while mine will be handmade.

Click to expand...

Sorry but, the reason they are $140 is because I'm not relying on a premade commercial product as it's processor, as well as every single component is included. ATMegas aren't cheap, and neither it's all the components to run it reliably. I decided not to base my project around the arduino is because they are overpriced, and I wanted an all in one solution. I could have easily made it a simple arduino shield, but like you said, I was going for a more professional product. Professional laser harp controllers aren't cheap, I think $140 was more than reasonable considering it included practically every part, right down to the pin headers.


I have no problem with you making your own product, however it annoys me slightly when you call my products overpriced without realizing how much work and money has actually gone into developing them, not to mention the actual component cost.

Also, extra beams is no problem, in fact I already have provisions for them in the current code, however I have found that once you start going over 12 or so, they become too closely packed together and you hit other notes unintentionally due to the limited galvo scan angle. You would have to place the harp unit quite a distance away from you and use a mirror to bounce them upwards to squeeze 20 beams in and play them reliably.

ATMegas aren't cheap

Click to expand...

Which one of these ATMegas are you using in your LaserHarp..:thinking:

Atmel Microcontrollers


Jerry

@Things ; I'm sorry if i offended you. I have a way of choosing exactly the words i shouldn't.

What i meant to say is, that from the beginning it whas my intention to make this harp as low cost as possible. So what i accually should have said is;"That price is much higher than i' aiming at".

When i realized what a pain in the * all the stuff whas you needed besides you scannerset, laser and the arduino i decided to make this shield. So it makes it
a lot easyer to build a laser harp especially for newbies

Some things are indeed optional and for "you" to buy. Why would you want to pay for something you're not using? Even though... these items are all low priced.

I used the arduino platform because many people allready own arduino(s) or are familiair with programming arduino. I used other platforms like parallax propeller. And allthough these MCU's have 8 cores (8 simultaniously tasks), the platform itself seems a bit shaky. The board tend to have defects (no guarantee when it burns your house down) and they use the .spin language wich isn't very similair to C.

The L'Harp shield includes headers all components except things like buttons (you can choose your own size and color) or lcd ( what if i use a 2x16 while you want to use 4x28 character lcd?), scannerset is obviously cheaper on ebay than when i have to re-send it....

I have no problem with you making your own product, however it annoys me slightly when you call my products overpriced without realizing how much work and money has actually gone into developing them, not to mention the actual component cost.

Click to expand...

After reading my first post, anyone could have known that i actually did!?!

Also, extra beams is no problem, in fact I already have provisions for them in the current code, however I have found that once you start going over 12 or so, they become too closely packed together and you hit other notes unintentionally due to the limited galvo scan angle. You would have to place the harp unit quite a distance away from you and use a mirror to bounce them upwards to squeeze 20 beams in and play them reliably.

Click to expand...

I don't seem to have any troubles with getting the beams even wider so i don't really see a problem here...

PS: I know you must be proud of your own laser harp design. But before commenting that harsh on others; Did you ever make it to production with yours? My buddy is still waiting

@Kiyoukan; It seems to work quite well with 21 beams. I uploaded a youtube movie for you.

Laserharp shield "L'Harp" laser harp - YouTube

Let me know what you think!

nice now i just wish i could get this harp to have that 10 beams kinda limited

kiyoukan said:

nice now i just wish i could get this harp to have that 10 beams kinda limited

Click to expand...

What do you mean exactly?

i have things laser harp.
So im would need him to let me know how to change the code to work with his hardware and stuff

Ah i see. Or just order mine when finished.... :takeit: