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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Project Help: New to Laser Forum

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Feb 27, 2017
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Hello All,
I am looking for the following for a class project:
- Laser: enough power to pop a balloon, able to either solder down on a proto board or place on a breadboard so I can control it from a micro-controller, through a BJT or mosfet.

I would just like to have a micro-controller connected to the laser via a gpio such as the schematic shows below:



I found this laser which would be ideal for soldering down or placing on a bread board:
2W 445nm M-Type M140 Blue Laser Diode Copper Module W/Leads & Aixiz Glass Lens | eBay

However I am not sure if this is over kill. Also I need to find a list of parts so I can mount this on a box of some sort. Not sure where to start looking.

Thanks
 





diachi

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For a class project? As in High School? If that's the case ... have you talked to the schools administration about bringing a high power laser on the premises? Have you considered the safety risks involved for anyone who will be observing? If so - what safety measures will you be taking?
 
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Not High School. Masters Project. Also how much power would I need to pop a balloon? I found the one in my original post through a quick ebay search so it maybe over kill as I stated. I found this youtube video of what I want it to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0Yn7cSXg0

But I don't need the housing I just want the LED, much like the one I linked to in my original post.
 
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diachi

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Not High School. Masters Project.


The same questions apply, at least the safety one certainly does.

As for a driver, you may be better just buying one that has a TTL or analogue capable modulation input, all you need to do then is set it and hook it all up. Unless you need to build the driver for some reason?
 
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I would like to pop a balloon, what can I get away with so safety wouldn't be to great of a concern? I plan to do this in a lab so normal lab equipment will be wore if needed. However the way youtube videos go around it seems safety with a laser needed to pop isn't too much of a concern, of course people do dumb stuff on youtube, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0Yn7cSXg0, so please educate me as to what would be ideal. My plan would be to have two lasers one ultra low power for testing purposes then one for the final run in a controlled lab environment.
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
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Hello All,
I am looking for the following for a class project:
- Laser: enough power to pop a balloon, able to either solder down on a proto board or place on a breadboard so I can control it from a micro-controller, through a BJT or mosfet.

I would just like to have a micro-controller connected to the laser via a gpio such as the schematic shows below:



I found this laser which would be ideal for soldering down or placing on a bread board:
2W 445nm M-Type M140 Blue Laser Diode Copper Module W/Leads & Aixiz Glass Lens | eBay

However I am not sure if this is over kill. Also I need to find a list of parts so I can mount this on a box of some sort. Not sure where to start looking.
Thanks

I would like to pop a balloon, what can I get away with so safety wouldn't be to great of a concern? I plan to do this in a lab so normal lab equipment will be wore if needed. However the way youtube videos go around it seems safety with a laser needed to pop isn't too much of a concern, of course people do dumb stuff on youtube, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0Yn7cSXg0, so please educate me as to what would be ideal. My plan would be to have two lasers one ultra low power for testing purposes then one for the final run in a controlled lab environment.

You seem to be stuck on Popping a balloon... That can be
done with a 405nm 50mW focused Laser.

You also seem to believe that Y/T 5mW Green Laser popping
video...:undecided:

Telling us that normal lab equipment will be worn while running
an experiment in a learning institution does not satisfy our Laser
Safety Concerns... Rubber gloves and clear goggles will not cut
it.

You have a basic circuit to control a Laser or LED with a current
limited Driver that can be modulated by a micro-controller.
I would suggest that you get an actual and safe 5mW Red Laser
to build and test your experiment before you use any High Powered
Laser.


Jerry
 
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I agree, a 405nm laser would do the trick <100mW. From a practical standpoint you can't buy everyone safety glasses.
I would used some engineered safety measure such as a none reflective barrier and you the operator would wear the proper glasses(depending on what wavelength you choose) keep in mind 405 does not appear bright but brightness doesn't always mean more or less danger.
I've melted solder with my 7W 445 hand cannon. That's not a very demonstratable laser.
Gamer, if you pick up laser there is a lot of information on this forum.
 
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Encap

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Not High School. Masters Project. Also how much power would I need to pop a balloon? I found the one in my original post through a quick ebay search so it maybe over kill as I stated. I found this youtube video of what I want it to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0Yn7cSXg0

But I don't need the housing I just want the LED, much like the one I linked to in my original post.

What everyone said above ----a 405nm low power would be enough to pop a balloon.

Masters Project popping a balloon with a laser?
Where? YouTube University?
I hope that is not all of it---that is like a 10 to 12 year old's science fair project.

Have a look at DTR's web site--a lot of other items and other wavelength diodes available there--and drivers for them too : https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes If you run just the diode alone you are going to burn it up in a very short time---you will need a module with lens to focus it and should have some sort of heatsink to mount it in...

Why not just buy a $15 output power metered green laser that will pop a balloon--like the 100mW 532nm green here: https://www.sanwulasers.org/product/304green

If you feel you have to make an LM317 based driver instead of just buying a driver from DTR have a look here: https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/flexdrives/rog8811

Anyway if you do anything with a laser in a classroom--safety is the first concern--talk with your school project advisor/teacher/professor and see if the school has a certified Laser Safety Officer ( LSO) and let him tell you how it has to be handled.
 
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diachi

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Anyway if you do anything with a laser in a classroom--safety is the first concern--talk with your school project advisor/teacher/professor and see if the school has a certified Laser Safety Officer ( LSO) and let him tell you how it has to be handled.

Yup, a lot of universities will have an LSO, would be wise to talk with them if there is one there.
 
Joined
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What everyone said above ----a 405nm low power would be enough to pop a balloon.

Masters Project popping a balloon with a laser?
Where? YouTube University?
I hope that is not all of it---that is like a 12 year olds science fair project.

Have a look at DTR's web site--a lot of other items and other wavelength diodes available there--and drivers for them too : https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes If you run just the diode alone you are going to burn it up in a very short time---you will need a module with lens to focus it and should have some sort of heatsink to mount it in...

Why not just buy a $15 output power metered green laser that will pop a baloon--like the 100mW 532nm green here: https://www.sanwulasers.org/product/304green

If you feel you have to make an LM317 based driver instead of just buying one from DTR have a look here: https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/flexdrives/rog8811

Anyway if you do that safety is the first concern--talk with your school advisor and see if the school has a certified Laser Safety Officer ( LSO) and let him tell you how it has to be handled.

First thank you for the responses, I am sure I will have more questions so I do not run into issues with a laser. As I mentioned in my previous post first I will use a extreme low power laser pointer to do testing to make sure my code runs correctly before putting a device that could cause harm. My focus in my project/curriculum is not the laser which is why I am researching as to how low I can go in regards to power to pop a balloon. I also need to research to see if what I want to do is feasible load wise because my robot cannot carry too much of a load weight wise and power wise, before I go to the prof.

What I plan to do is have a robot mounted with a laser. Current the robot moves to certain coordinates on a grid. This robot also, using a sonar sensor, detects objects in the grid and maps out the objects to an array saved to the micro-controller. The objects in the array are then displayed on an oLED display after a sweep of the grid. Currently working with alot of sweat, tears, and blood.

Next upgrades are up to us. What I want to do is add another sonar sensor or switch out to a couple of LED distance sensors detect objects then with a Color sensor detect the color of a balloon. Depending on the color of the balloon pop it or not. For testing purposes I will have 4 low power leds and see if my code will be able to detect the balloons first and power each led based on the color of the balloon. After a run the oLED display will show x marks for popped balloons, and circles for friendly balloons.

The leds will be mounted at shin to ankle height. Just to repeat myself I will be doing a test run with low powered laser pointers and in a controlled environment. I will follow up with my professor in regards to an LSO, if I chose to do this. I want to know the parts and the required power first before I ask.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I can do some rough estimates now. Thanks.
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/flexdrives/rog8811
 

Encap

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First thank you for the responses, I am sure I will have more questions so I do not run into issues with a laser. As I mentioned in my previous post first I will use a extreme low power laser pointer to do testing to make sure my code runs correctly before putting a device that could cause harm. My focus in my project/curriculum is not the laser which is why I am researching as to how low I can go in regards to power to pop a balloon. I also need to research to see if what I want to do is feasible load wise because my robot cannot carry too much of a load weight wise and power wise, before I go to the prof.

What I plan to do is have a robot mounted with a laser. Current the robot moves to certain coordinates on a grid. This robot also, using a sonar sensor, detects objects in the grid and maps out the objects to an array saved to the micro-controller. The objects in the array are then displayed on an oLED display after a sweep of the grid. Currently working with alot of sweat, tears, and blood.

Next upgrades are up to us. What I want to do is add another sonar sensor or switch out to a couple of LED distance sensors detect objects then with a Color sensor detect the color of a balloon. Depending on the color of the balloon pop it or not. For testing purposes I will have 4 low power leds and see if my code will be able to detect the balloons first and power each led based on the color of the balloon. After a run the oLED display will show x marks for popped balloons, and circles for friendly balloons.

The leds will be mounted at shin to ankle height. Just to repeat myself I will be doing a test run with low powered laser pointers and in a controlled environment. I will follow up with my professor in regards to an LSO, if I chose to do this. I want to know the parts and the required power first before I ask.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I can do some rough estimates now. Thanks.
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/flexdrives/rog8811

Sounds interesting.

If you get stuck on any part of the laser aspect--certainly feel free to ask about same on LPF -- there is a lot of laser problem solving knowledge among LPF members who will generally be happy to answer any questions and/or help you as needed when needed.

Good luck with your project and enjoy LPF.

PS the LPF data base has a lot of laser specific information---use the search bar at the bottom of the page to access it.
 
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In regards to this laser: https://www.sanwulasers.org/product/304green Does the housing already have an internal driver so I can connect it to the output of a GPIO on a micro-controller? I would doubt it but just in case I wanted to ask. Or would I still have to disassemble the housing and solder it to a driver with a BJT?
Ideally I would like to have something like this: 2W 445nm M-Type M140 Blue Laser Diode Copper Module W/Leads & Aixiz Glass Lens | eBay with a TTL driver and less than 100mW. This is in order to avoid having to add any circuity where I could possibly blow out the laser. I have searched through the forums however the links I find where the laser is a 405nm and with less than 100mW are broken or old. I did look here: https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/s06j-12x-405-diodes however the power is a little high for my liking and I rather aim around 100mW.

Thanks.
 




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