Turn a tennis ball into a Laser Ball

[rocket689]

Very cool. Nice tutorial, too.

 

[LeoneLabs]

Thanks for the great response everyone!

I'll be sure to add some more pictures and video of the Laser Ball in action in near future.

In regards to different colors... I think a blue and green version would be awesome! In the instructable I actually show a "5-min laser ball" with a single 405nm laser module I pulled from a pointer. But it's true these modules tend to be bigger and so you'd either want to go with a bigger ball or fewer modules. It would also be important to keep the optical power low for safety.

Cheers.

 

[sopark4000]

+1 to you. This was an awesome project and it looks like even someone with basic electronics knowledge could do it themselves. I really liked that you used the diffraction gratings as lenses in the modules.

 

[qumefox]

Thanks for the great response everyone!

I'll be sure to add some more pictures and video of the Laser Ball in action in near future.

In regards to different colors... I think a blue and green version would be awesome! In the instructable I actually show a "5-min laser ball" with a single 405nm laser module I pulled from a pointer. But it's true these modules tend to be bigger and so you'd either want to go with a bigger ball or fewer modules. It would also be important to keep the optical power low for safety.

Cheers.

Keep in mind that pretty much every 405nm 'pen' labeled 5mW... isn't.. 5mW of 405nm is nearly nothing as far as visibility goes. EVERY 5mW 405nm pen i've tested has metered between 40mW and 90mW. If they actually made them 5mW.. they wouldn't sell many.

 

[Flaminpyro]

Howdy and Welcome to the Forum :wave:
Man what a way to make a first post :beer:

That looks really cool very good job on hooking this all up +2 for you

I can't wait to try this, I'll be making mine in a 3" aerial shell casing

 

[StardustSprinkles]

This is so cool! And it really does look like a mine. I can imagine a time when this is what an anti-ship mine looks like, come close and it shoots MWs of beautiful slicing beams all over the place.

 

[bennett326]

i finally watched the video
#1 excellently filmed and edited video
#2 AWESOME
#3 SUPER AWESOME

+1

 

[wolfhunter9154]

Obviously you cant throw it around at walls and stuff, but how "shock proof" are red diodes?

 

[sopark4000]

Obviously you cant throw it around at walls and stuff, but how "shock proof" are red diodes?

I also wondered about this myself. As you said obviously bouncing it around is a bad idea but what kind of shock tolerance does this have.

 

[wolfhunter9154]

Your instructable got featured! It was sent to me in the instructables email.

 

[JaiNobeZ]

Thanks for the great response everyone!

I'll be sure to add some more pictures and video of the Laser Ball in action in near future.

In regards to different colors... I think a blue and green version would be awesome! In the instructable I actually show a "5-min laser ball" with a single 405nm laser module I pulled from a pointer. But it's true these modules tend to be bigger and so you'd either want to go with a bigger ball or fewer modules. It would also be important to keep the optical power low for safety.

Cheers.

Keep in mind that pretty much every 405nm 'pen' labeled 5mW... isn't.. 5mW of 405nm is nearly nothing as far as visibility goes. EVERY 5mW 405nm pen i've tested has metered between 40mW and 90mW. If they actually made them 5mW.. they wouldn't sell many.

Just a suggestion, you could try making one with 1 green module, and then use the diffaction gratings. That's (probably) safe... although don't assume without testing first.


Also, Leonelabs, I looked at your website and, while I was disappointed by the blog format rather than it just having a list of projects I could view information about, the LED staff looks amazing as well! I want one... Haha

 

[LeoneLabs]

I also wondered about this myself. As you said obviously bouncing it around is a bad idea but what kind of shock tolerance does this have.

It's actually quite good, although I have yet to put it through the ringer! While its true the tennis ball has lost most of its bounce it does provide a nice shell. I've dropped them plenty of times (my juggling skills are a bit rusty...) and they've held up. I'll have to try some stress tests now to see how they hold up!

Cheers.

 

[sopark4000]

It's actually quite good, although I have yet to put it through the ringer! While its true the tennis ball has lost most of its bounce it does provide a nice shell. I've dropped them plenty of times (my juggling skills are a bit rusty...) and they've held up. I'll have to try some stress tests now to see how they hold up!

Cheers.

Very cool. When I think about it a tennis ball is probably one of the best things you could put a laser in when it comes to shock absorbance.

 

[jcranmer]

Nice job. That thing is way cool AND you used a teensy in a way I hadn't really considered.

I'm still learning the teensy, but I'm a little surprised you were able to connect the laser modules directly to the board. I always thought you would need at least a transistor or small relay.

 

[Benm]

I dont think the lasers diodes will break, but you can knock the lenses out of alignment, or more likely sever the electrical connections inside under the stress of flexing the ball.

I like the idea of juggling balls with lasers shooting out of them. Perhaps its also possible to do this with the 'beanbag' style juggling balls what have a filling that absorbs most of the impact then dropped or collided.

 

[Crazyk187]

Love this +1 can't wait to make mine. !!!!!!