Hi, I'm Mike. I'm in my early 40's and I'm laser illiterate. I came here to read and learn because I've got an electronics project which requires lasers, and as noted.. I'm basically clueless about them.
For the record, I'm also fairly clueless about electronics in general, but I'm finding it to be fairly easy to learn what I need to know to get the rest of my project to work. That's not because I'm particularly smart, but because of all the tutorials and reference materials available on the subject(s) obviously written by much smarter people than me.
However, I'm finding it difficult to uncover what I need to uncover, when it comes to lasers. That's where I'm hoping you guys (and these forums) will fit in. I'd love to ask my specific questions now, and this clearly isn't the sub-forum for it, but my lack of understanding on the subject means I really don't know which sub-forums to focus on.
I'd love it if someone could point me in the right direction to find what I'm looking for. My project involves focusing two lasers (a specific distance apart) on a single point (within a distance of about 10 feet), and then recording the angles the lasers are at. Those results are then used to determine the point's location in 3d space, COMPARED to other similar points, in-order to dimension them. I've got most of it figured-out, but need to spec the lasers themselves.
Clearly, most of the lasers you guys discuss here are stronger than I'd ever need, but I can't seem to find data on what sort of lasers I should be looking for, and what qualities I need, besides perhaps the ability to focus the beam, (to improve measurement tolerances) at a variable distance of a max of 10 feet. Maybe it means making my own low-end laser and using a motorized focusing lens to achieve what I want, I'm kinda' hoping that's not the case, but I'd like to know.
Anyway, thank goodness for helpful strangers, and if I see anyway to offer assistance to anyone here, you can bet I'll do so.. Thanks for reading this far.
For the record, I'm also fairly clueless about electronics in general, but I'm finding it to be fairly easy to learn what I need to know to get the rest of my project to work. That's not because I'm particularly smart, but because of all the tutorials and reference materials available on the subject(s) obviously written by much smarter people than me.
However, I'm finding it difficult to uncover what I need to uncover, when it comes to lasers. That's where I'm hoping you guys (and these forums) will fit in. I'd love to ask my specific questions now, and this clearly isn't the sub-forum for it, but my lack of understanding on the subject means I really don't know which sub-forums to focus on.
I'd love it if someone could point me in the right direction to find what I'm looking for. My project involves focusing two lasers (a specific distance apart) on a single point (within a distance of about 10 feet), and then recording the angles the lasers are at. Those results are then used to determine the point's location in 3d space, COMPARED to other similar points, in-order to dimension them. I've got most of it figured-out, but need to spec the lasers themselves.
Clearly, most of the lasers you guys discuss here are stronger than I'd ever need, but I can't seem to find data on what sort of lasers I should be looking for, and what qualities I need, besides perhaps the ability to focus the beam, (to improve measurement tolerances) at a variable distance of a max of 10 feet. Maybe it means making my own low-end laser and using a motorized focusing lens to achieve what I want, I'm kinda' hoping that's not the case, but I'd like to know.
Anyway, thank goodness for helpful strangers, and if I see anyway to offer assistance to anyone here, you can bet I'll do so.. Thanks for reading this far.
