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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

RGY optics under construction

Benm

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Just some images of ongoing construction, perhaps inspirational to people working on their first laser scanner.

I got most of the components, and have been doing some test runs. Getting the optics aligned is a pretty difficult task, but it seems to be doable with DIY adjustable mounts. One holds a fist surface mirror, the other the 'dichro' from a PHR803 sled.

First pictures: beam combining optics, lasers and cooling. The lasers are mounted in an insulating mounting block constructed by Andy, which is bolted down to a heatsink. This gets slightly warm running at full power continously, but doest affect performance as far as i can tell.

Pictures 4: Still on prototyping board, these are the actual LD drivers, both set to about 350 full power. One powers an LOC in an aixiz module, the other drives the pump diode of a 50 mW o-like laser module.

Picture 5: mains supplies. The smaller psu to the right powers the lasers. Next to it is the larger psu for the galvo's and correction amps.

Final picture: beams combined! Hard to tell from this picture, but they actually overlap about 2-3 meters from the entire setup. I'll post some beamshots when its dark here so i can take them (too sunny right now).
 

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Benm

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I'm getting the alignment right... its just the green beam is narrower with different divergence from the red. In the pictures this looks a lot more pronounced than it does in reality though.

Pic 7 - optical path, you see a fair deal of green is reflected of the PHR dichro, i reckon its about 20% loss there, still have measure that. Losses on the red seem very low, not confirmed yet, but i estimate >>90% reflection.

Pic 8 - clearly shows the thinner green beam inside the red one (looks like a green circle in a red circle when you put a piece of paper in the path).

Pic 9 - Projection onto wall at about 2 meters, looks like a very nice yellow. Camera renders it way too red: with 200/70 mW it looks lime to the eye, with 200/20 it looks orange, so it covers a nice spectrum by dimming the green.

Pic 10 - another beam-in-beam, shot from above.

Pic 11 - looking into the unit. Camera renders it all somewhat magenta, but looks quite yellow in reality. Notice the shadows of the candle and the chair (not int he picture) on the opposite wall - thats illuminated by the reflected dot, its quite bright all together :)

I hope the colours will seem to blend more once i get the beam moving with the galvo's - perhaps some persistance of vision effect to hope for ;)




@Andy: I was able to get the green module in, indeed. I removed the lens barrel, screwed on the backside of an aixiz (thread fits exactly) and pushed it in using a vise. I used a slight bit of thermal grease, and given the force required to insert the module, i'd say thermal contact should be okay. With the heatsink displayed, the whole thing only runs slightly warm (5 to 10 above ambient) with both lasers running continously at full power.
 

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Benm

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Showing the color a bit better: reflected off some paper (passport actually, but those pages are pretty white).
 

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Benm

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Thanks :)

Its still a work in progress, i'm moving lots of circuitry from breadboard to permanent boards as it is, but i hope to have it all working soon.
 
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Forgot to say:thanks:to andy-con too --great stuff on his site for a long time-hak
 
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Very nice and clean job +1 bud ;)
I would suspect the resistors behind the laser modules are so you can check current ?
Maby a Hi-Power lens for the red will help mate it up with the green.

BTW I just seen this is post 1501 for me :cool:
 

Benm

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The resistors behind the diodes are purely there as ESD protection, just a precaution for prototyping. The actual current source has 1 ohm series resistors for each diode so i can measure current without disconnecting anything. In the first set of pictures they are obscured by the transistor heatsinks.

I'm still finalizing the electronics, i'll put some pictures up when they are complete, and post schematics for the blanking and diode drivers too, so anyone who wants to can recreate the project.
 

Benm

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Some more pics of the build...

- correction amp and blanking detector

- soundcard connected

- details of soundcard wiring
 

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Benm

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Connecting everything together.. and its working :)

Still some adjustments to do, after i find a good solid base plate or case to mount all this stuff to ;)
 

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The circle in the middle should be big enough to touch the square outside it. I think this means you have the scan speed set too high.
 

Benm

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Oh yeah, that ilda pattern is way off - the speed is about correct, but the output angle much too large for the galvos to keep up.

The system works beautifully though, i've done some test runs tonight, and it's amazing to see in in person.

Unfortunately my camera captures the beams very poorly, i suppose i'll have to borrow something a bit more sensitive to do it any justice. For those interested:

YouTube - RGY scanner test
 




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