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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

New project idea: multi, not full, color spirograp

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I've decided to start saving up money to build my own spirograph. I'll use 532nm, 405nm and 660nm lasers for this project. That should give me a nice variety of colors without spending big bucks on a 473nm laser. I'm looking at 50 to 60mW of green. I know I'll need around 180mW of 660nm but i'm not sure about 405nm. i know it will be a PITA to align the beams but that is part of the fun.

I am going to compile the list of needed parts here. Feel free to let me know if I am forgeting something.

project box of some sort
couple motors - probably use PC fans
couple surface mirrors
motor controls - obtainable at radio shack
beam dimmers - obtainable at radio shack
power source - probably 12v
lasers
a way of combining beams

I am looking at this for a green module. I'll probably get the heatsink from them also. http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?RowID=165&CS=jmm6360&All=

I'm willing to pay somebody to put a high powered DVD diode in a housing and custom heatsink with 4 holes drilled for mounting. It just has to be powerful enough to match the brightness of a 60mW green.

I know it is hard to get enough 405nm to match the brightness of 60mW green right now. This is the reason I am going to take the time building this. The 405nm portion will probably be the last thing I wait on to finish this project.

I am open for options on the box this will go and and powering it. It would be nice to have the power supply built inside the box or have a 12v high amp output phone charger or something similar. The reason I say 12v is because I might use computer fan motors to put the mirrors on. The ones I get will probably be running around 6000 to 7000 rpm @ 12v. I might even mount a 80mm fan in the box for cooling. I am thinking about mounting the lasers and motors on a seperate board inside the box. I'll try to find some spring mounts to help cushion the laser/motor board.

I am open to help and suggestions. I just want the final product to look as nice as possible.
 





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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

im also going to be doing the same very soon.

but for colour matching

you would probably only need 10mw of 532nm
120mw of 405nm
50mw 650nm
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

Here are my thoughts that I like to share:

"There are a bunch of different little glowing (novelty) items out there that change colour with a PWM circuit and LEDs. I was thinking: if you replace the LEDs with a transistor (IDK how, wish I did. PNP, NPN- got no clue or how to connect them Angry) to amplify the PWM signal and then let it power a laser. -These circuits have three channels, one for red, green and blue (RGB), so you do this with three lasers: RGB laser! It will change colour by itself! OMG that's awesome!
And why stop there? Amplify another circuit and instead of powering lasers, let it power three motors and make a three mirror spirograph, that changes speeds automaticly for dirt cheap!

The big problem is to get a blue laser."

+

"I just thought again, lol. Instead of using only one PWM circuit for the lasers/motors, maybe I should be using one circuit per laser/motor. If I use only one circuit, then the cycle will be the same all the time and you'll get bored. With one circuit (using only one channel) per laser/motor, the cycles will never repeat itself - the effects will be completely random, and therefore better! Yeah it might be a little big, but still portable. Smiley

...And I could use a violet laser on white paper to make blue."



That's what I've come up with for now.
It might just work, but I need to figure out how to amplify the signals somehow.
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

mine will have a switch for each laser so you can mix the colours, to make 7 colouors
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

I was thinking I could get more than 7 colors if I could adjust the output of each laser. I also looked through your scanner how-to thinking that might help some.
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

if you can adjust the power of each laser then yes you can make more than 7 colours
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

andy_con said:
im also going to be doing the same very soon.

but for colour matching

you would probably only need 10mw of 532nm
120mw of 405nm
50mw 650nm

I thought you only needed 3 to 4mW of ~650nm per mW of 532. I didn't think that much 405nm was needed either. I was thinking it was more like 7 to 9mW per mW of 532. If that much is really needed, I'll go with ~20mW of green. I want this thing to be pretty bright during the day also.
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

Cool! I did this once, just not in a permanent configuration.




 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

Dr. Evil said:
[quote author=andy_con link=1212730390/0#1 date=1212751867]im also going to be doing the same very soon.

but for colour matching

you would probably only need 10mw of 532nm
120mw of 405nm
50mw 650nm

I thought you only needed 3 to 4mW of ~650nm per mW of 532. I didn't think that much 405nm was needed either. I was thinking it was more like 7 to 9mW per mW of 532. If that much is really needed, I'll go with ~20mW of green. I want this thing to be pretty bright during the day also.[/quote]

i dont want bright during the day, i want even colour match.

i think 20mw o 532nm would over power 100mw of 405nm

we willl see
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

Dr. Evil said:
I know it is hard to get enough 405nm to match the brightness of 60mW green right now. This is the reason I am going to take the time building this. The 405nm portion will probably be the last thing I wait on to finish this project.

;)
 
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Re: New project idea: multi, not full, color spiro

I'm going to try to build something similar to some ideas here. My idea is:

a 3 motor Spirograph with 3 different lasers, ~ 200mW 650nm, ~30mW 532nm, and ~100mW 405nm
I don't want to combine them, just use them all separately

with separate batteries powering each w/ their own drivers,
a power on switch to turn them all on, then a wheel (from cd burner volume adjuster) to control speeds of all 3 motors, then 3 pots in line between the wheel and each motor to adjust speeds individually.

I plan on using a blank Cd cut up into circles to put on the computer fans to act as the mirror motors.. then attach (hot glue) everything onto 1 or 2 metal tops of parted dvd burners.

I searched for a "how to" on spirographs but couldn't find anything, does anyone have any links or tips / comments that would help me along with this idea?
 




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