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FrozenGate by Avery

Looking for a laser beam I can track with a video camera

E

ericb

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Jun 25, 2009
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The company I work for is looking for a laser that we can use for video camera tracking practice. Something that we can set on the floor or hang from the ceiling that will project a beam we can follow, ex. back and forth, up and down type motion. Not looking to spend that much money on this. Any ideas?
 
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Well the cheapest/brightest visible beam would be a 532nm green laser beam. if YOU didn't need to "see" the beam with your eyes and just needed the camera to see it then the cheapest solution would be an 808nm IR laser.

this green module would be Plenty bright, as long as it isn't too bright in the room you are using it in.
http://o-like.com/b2b_cpinfo.asp?id=966

This 808nm IR module would work if only the camera needed to see it.
http://o-like.com/b2b_cpinfo.asp?id=949
 
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Thanks for the reply. Is that something that I can set on the floor and let it do it's thing or do I have to hold it? I need something that will work on its own.
 
So are there any controls or anything for the 532nm laser or does it just project a random beam? Just wondering because we may want to vary the speed of it or change it's direction etc.
 
Hmm, there's gotta be some other option right? Like a cheap novelty type item? I looked on lasersandlights.com but really didn't see anything that would work for me. If anyone can think of anything that might work it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
That's a great idea but a little too pricey and we don't have a DMX board, thanks though.
 
You might want to consider simply mounting the laser module on some sort of moving axis. But to have the system automated in such a way that it randomly moves the beam around a room would not be a simple task.
 
I've been thinking about that, like a cheap pointer laser, but what could I mount it to? I haven't came up with anything yet, let me know if you think of anything.
 
You could always mount it to a telescope mount, or just an electric telescope. A lot of them have a controller to point it wherever you need to.
 
What I would probably do is buy something like this: ThinkGeek :: USB Rocket Launcher and strap a cheapo dollar store laser pointer to it... Plug it into a computer, and program a keyboard macro to point it around in somewhat random directions.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, as far as being cheap and easy.
 
Get a 50mw-ish green laser pointer and a slow turning motor. Put the laser on a pivot and an arm on the motor's shaft that connects to the laser.

Example:
laserpivot.jpg


With a little more cunning you can make it go from side to side independently with another motor. It pretty simple really.
 
You could hack together a 3-axis servo system with a controller, such as an Arduino, and program it to move randomly, but it sure wouldn't be easy, nor too cheap.
Maybe you could have someone holding it, and waving it about randomly, that would be the easiest and cheapest :D
 
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