Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 - Finished

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

csshih said:

a2dconvertor, your build skills are amazing!
that video is pretty awesome too

Craig

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Hi Craig thanks for the kind words!

Regards

Joe

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

Right people.

I did a bit of experimenting with my harp last night and I thought I would let you know what I found out.
Some of you including my self have noticed that when playing the harp in non-blanking mode a majority of the beams play more than one note, it's own assigned note plus the note of beam 10.
So when I started playing with my harp last night instead of putting my hand in a beam I just put the tip of my finger in and I only got the note for that beam to play and it was the same for all the other beams that suffered from this problem.
The conclusion I have come to is that the sensor is seeing light off my hand of the return stroke line and that the note for beam 10 is also being seen on the return stroke line.
So the next step was to leave the harp in non-blanking mode and artificially blank the return stroke line with thin strips of sticky labels across the aperture between each of the beams.
This did not completely remove the return stroke line but it did break it up enough not to be picked up by the sensor.
The end result was that I could give a very near perfect performance with no double notes from any single beam.
This I think strengthens the case that the scan rate needs to be slowed down to allow a greater contrast in brightness between the beams and the return stroke line. I think this also points to getting the beams brighter in blanking mode would also make the harp far more reliable.
I wanted to post a couple of photos of the artificial blanking technique but could not find my USB lead for my camera phone.
I hope this sheds more light on the issue.

Carl

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

Hi Carl...nice work on this...

I took your idea one step further by making a mask with 3/16" holes drilled in a piece of MDF on a stand. I found the same thing as you...single notes played with no problems whle in BLANKING OFF MODE.



This was only an experiment... hopefully this will help with the new code update from Dan.

Regards

Joe

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

a2dconverter said:

Hi Carl...nice work on this...

I took your idea one step further by making a mask with 3/16" holes drilled in a piece of MDF on a stand. I found the same thing as you...single notes played with no problems whle in BLANKING OFF MODE.

Hopefully this will help on a code update from Dan

Regards

Joe

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Nice job there Joe.

The only problem with this though is that the single beam at the start and end of use can't get past the mask.
A case of put up with it for now until Dan can sort out the code.

If Dan finds that he can't do a lot to slow the scan rate, I'm hoping the blue diodes I intend to fit can modulate much better than the DPSS green dose at the moment in blanking mode.

Carl

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

Carl B said:

Nice job there Joe.

The only problem with this though is that the single beam at the start and end of use can't get past the mask.
A case of put up with it for now until Dan can sort out the code.

If Dan finds that he can't do a lot to slow the scan rate, I'm hoping the blue diodes I intend to fit can modulate much better than the DPSS green dose at the moment in blanking mode.

Carl

Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess I could drill another hole but you still wouldn't see the fan "open-up"... Anyway, this was only a temporary experiment as I foresee updates to the code

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

Thanks for your research guys, it is actually very helpful. Originally I thought it might have been a hardware issue, though I can see where the problem might be coming from (Regarding beam brightness in contrast to "blank" brightness).

Since in blanking off mode, the harp must check each beam at PRECISELY the right time. If you happen to have your hand in a "blanked" section of the beam, and the timing is off, it could possibly play other notes, like you are describing. Not 100% sure how I'm gonna fix this through the code yet, I'll need to do a bit of mucking around with my own harp.

On a different note, csshih has just put in an order for 30 more kits. All the parts are on the way to him, so the next batch should be ready in a few weeks

Re: Laser Harp kits - NOW PRE-ORDERING!

Yo things.

Sorry to ask a stupid question, but is it to late to get in on this.

Highly interested. My old harp died not so long ago.

Does that price also include filters for the taos array?

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

No, not too late, the new batch is underway at the moment. It'll still be a while before they can ship out yet, but this run is mainly based in the US thru csshih. He is going to send me a kit for testing before he ships them out, so if you'd like one, let me know and I'll have him send 2 (Or more if there are any more Aussies wanting them), to save on postage

It doesn't include filters for the sensors, however from what I have found (And a few others), they don't really make much of a difference. I've been fine using my harp without them.

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

Okay, sounds great. If you could get the extra kit, that would be awesome.

Shoot me a PM, or let me know here when everything is good to go!

Cheers
Dave

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

Hey, I'm interested in these kits, but I'm not the smartest when it comes to things like this, so I was wondering if you could give me suggestions on a good laser, galvanometer, and anything else I'd need. Thanks in advance for the help!

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

most of the parts are here. Now i'm just waiting on the boards - then i'll be able to send Things the package for testing.

C

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

csshih said:

most of the parts are here. Now i'm just waiting on the boards - then i'll be able to send Things the package for testing.

C

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Awesome...mind sending mine at the same time...brought one from your store the other night. :yh:

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

blackspirit said:

Awesome...mind sending mine at the same time...brought one from your store the other night. :yh:

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I changed my plan - I'll probably send one for someone to assemble stateside, then if I get the green light, ship them all out!

Craig

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

Is this second batch of kits still using the V2.1 code or has Dan managed to update the code yet?

Carl

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

I'll probably send one for someone to assemble stateside,

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Hi Craig,


Ill be more than happy to be your guinea pig!

Re: Laser Harp kits - Batch 2 coming soon!

Carl B said:

Is this second batch of kits still using the V2.1 code or has Dan managed to update the code yet?

Carl

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2nd batch will ship with a 2.11 variant, once I figure out what settings would be useful user-configurable.

I'm also going to try and develop an application that'll let people update the code on their harps if I release new improved versions. Just a bit slow at the moment, as I've got a first aid course I'm doing, them my driving license test within the next few days. Should have ample time to get the ball rolling with new firmware after that.