DVDRW Case 4 Motor Spirograph

So I decided to make e spirograph... (this is actually 2nd revision of it. the 1st version was using 5mW Red and second
surface mirrors))

now I am using 30mW Green and FS mirrors (actually the same mirrors but with back paint removed. I just hated the
ghost reflections of the SS mirrors.



first I started removing everything I had put on the bottom and attaching a piece of inlaid wooden floor
on the bottom because the metal is quite thin and easily bends in directions which alter the
alignment of the mirrors. (this was another error in my first design)



the motors I took from 4 damaged/old CD/DVD drives, they operate the cd tray door. and run at 6V max.

I accidently threw away the rubbers of 2 of the motors that were perfect for plasing mirrors on them.
So I took some of my girlfriend's bracelets parts and they worked out quite nice.



now I drilled some holes, put 4 pots, used the original led from the drive and
put a clicky switch for a flashlight behind the original tray door button.

at the back of the drive there is a DC jack for power adaptor.


next the great time consuming alignment takes place which is not photographed

some photos of the finished alignment and the drive which is l1117 my etched pcb at ~378mA


ok final testing and ready to enclose:



and there it is - aperture is the top of the cd drive with guts taken out
and a shot in the dark... some videos coming :


hope you like it :beer: :san:

video 1
video 2

next I will be adding a microcontroller to remember and auto set the patterns i like

i do like it ive built a spiro myself and there alot of fun to play with....reminds me i need to show mine off :beer;

Great tutorial. I thew away alot of drives when I was harvesting red diodes.
Och well, old CD-drives are abundance.

Nice work

My very first red laser from a DVD drive ended up mounted on
top of the empty drive housing.. Inside was pump and reservoir
for mineral oil..

Hadnt thought of making a spiro in one but looks like a clean setup :beer:

Nice Job and recycling...:gj:

Jerry

thanks guys :beer:

NICE!

Quick Question- does the angle of the plane of the mirrors have to be specific, or did you just stick them closest to perpendicular to the motor axis? I am starting to look into building one myself soon...

The spirograph will only make "spiros" from the random off-angle of the mirror on the axis. So you'll have to just tweak it until you get a pattern you think looks good.

a disk drive never looked so good, great job!

Bionic-Badger said:

The spirograph will only make "spiros" from the random off-angle of the mirror on the axis. So you'll have to just tweak it until you get a pattern you think looks good.

Click to expand...

Why have I not seen anyone strive towards the ability to adjust the pitch while the mirror
is spinning? That is where it's at for full control!
Buy a swash plate assembly for a remote controlled helicopter, they are surprisingly cheap for what they are and what you could do with one.

Bionic-Badger said:

The spirograph will only make "spiros" from the random off-angle of the mirror on the axis. So you'll have to just tweak it until you get a pattern you think looks good.

Click to expand...

yep, I just tweaked it until I was satisfied with the angles of all mirrors.

@LaserCo
I haven't got time to improve mine yet, too much work.... I made it as simple as possible, but I might consider your advice :beer:

nice work
rc wired and wireless from toys can make building very simple and give joystick full control

I'm debating on trying out either this style rig, or X-Y scanner type setup made from servos and small audio amplifiers... What you suggest?

both or maybe combining them.
only limit is ones imagination.
show a pointer... they will ask... 'what good is it?'
show a spiro ..... 'wow thats cool..'

I like spiro better with 3 motors over 2 and 4 are better than 3.. motors that are not reversable, to me, are not as cool. i use DPDT switches and pots and if it is has a center 'off' position that is nice too.
I have never worried about the angle as it is darn near impossible to glue a mirror perfectly flat.
Align the mirrors with the motors off and try to hit the center of each mirror. If you image gets clipped you may need to re-glue some mirrors to get them closer to flat.

The pattern grows in size as it goes to more mirrors- and it can get TOO big and be clipped. Positioning everything very close helps with that issue. If your mirrors are of different sizes you want the beam bouncing off the smallest mirror first and the largest last. and ,of course being able to use different speeds (from very slow to very fast) will give you the most patterns. You can knife edge more than one color laser, but the spots need to be very close. FS mirrors are the best to use. if your lasers are low power using an old home movie screen will make them 'jump' .

one last tip=glue a mirror to a speaker voice coil and your spiro image will move to the music. woofers bounce the most.. enjoy

uC, swash plates from an RC copter, pwm drive from uC to motors, and audio in to set the spiro to the music. Could be a good plan

I never thought the spares for my 500 heli would actually have other uses (well the swash plates anyway)

Just thought, you might want to check out Sigurthr's schematic of a 555timer setup for pulsing the laser unit, if you had an adjustable pot. to adjust the frequency, you could get some interesting effects if combined with the spirograph :beer:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/how-pulse-laser-70292.html