tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76377804170154852992024-03-12T18:42:15.999-07:00Laser 530DIY Laser CNC engraver and cutterUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-78872685817657848342011-04-29T12:29:00.000-07:002011-04-29T12:30:35.534-07:00405nm vs 445nm comparisonI've been a bit disappointed by the 445 nm diode so far. It's not really burning as well as the 405nm diode. So I decided to put down some estimates to see what is happening.<br /><i></i><br />I was unable to focus the 445nm to a pinpoint as small as the 405nm. If I had to estimate it would be 0.4 - 0.6mm 'dot' for the 445nm vs a 0.1 - 0.2mm pin for the 405nm. Let's run with that:<br /><br /><ul><li> 405nm dot has a surface area of about 0.13mm^2 (using 0.2mm diameter)</li><li> 445nm dot has a surface area of about 0.79mm^2 (using 0.5mm diameter)</li><li><br /></li><li> Assume the 405nm (<a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/12x-br-diodes-46798.html" target="_blank">200mA</a>) puts out at 225mW</li><li> Assume the 445nm (<a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/list-445nm-diodes-51897.html" target="_blank">700mA</a>) puts out 500mW</li><li><br /></li><li> 405nm delivers 225mW/0.13mm^2 = 1730mW / mm^2</li><li> 445nm delivers 500mW/0.79mm^2 = 633mW / mm^2</li></ul><br />So unless I can get the dot size down with the better lens the 445nm will have a hard time competing with the 405nm. This is consistent with my observations on the CNC so far.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-29350278551669905322011-04-26T20:50:00.000-07:002011-04-26T20:59:14.436-07:00445nm 1 Watt monster diodeThe 445nm diode came in and I've hooked it up to the CNC. This diode is a multi-mode laser diode. This means that the dot will not be nice and round as with the 405nm diode, but it has some real power and durability. People seem to run these at about 1amp, where the diode delivers about 1Watt of laser power. That is not bad!<br /><br />So as a slow start I raised the platform to be as close to the laser as I could focus the beam (to keep the dot as small as possible) and set the current to 400mA figuring I was going to get about 400mWatt of power, however at 400mA this diode barely burns paper! The 405 diode at 400mA rips through paper like butter, needless to say a bit disappointing.<br /><br />A quick look at the <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/list-445nm-diodes-51897.html">amp vs power</a> graph over at Laser Pointer Forums confirms that this diode takes a good amount of amperage just to get started. At 400mA we get about 250mW of laser power. Whereas the 405nm diode gave us <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/12x-br-diodes-46798.html">400-500mWatt</a>.<br /><br />Sadly I can't drive the power up too much further today as I am running out of juice on the power supply. That'll be the next improvement. So this diode should really shine with a bit more amperage.<br /><br />I ordered a better lens from JayRob on the forums ($13) to see if I can get this laser focused nicely.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-70808961290516723442011-04-25T16:30:00.001-07:002011-04-25T21:36:05.195-07:00Stanham driverTo run a CNC laser you'll need a laser diode driver (current source) that can be modulated. I wanted a driver that can be modulated with an analog voltage as well in case I want to give EMC control over the laser power output. After some searching I settled on a modified <a href="http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/showthread.php/6475-Stan_Ham-diode-driver-%28analog%29">StanHam</a>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sliwuQJravM/TbYEVDqt9fI/AAAAAAAAAH4/zf3VBJ6Dyik/s1600/stanham_schematic.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 164px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sliwuQJravM/TbYEVDqt9fI/AAAAAAAAAH4/zf3VBJ6Dyik/s400/stanham_schematic.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599667946490033650" border="0" /></a>I changed the design by adding soft-start capacitors (though not tested yet) and made it all surface mount components and a beefier output transistor as I intend to run this up to one amp for my 445nm diode. The board layout is as follows:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xounYhTMLR8/TbYFJkfofeI/AAAAAAAAAIA/x43EgNKstnQ/s1600/stanham-board.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xounYhTMLR8/TbYFJkfofeI/AAAAAAAAAIA/x43EgNKstnQ/s400/stanham-board.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599668848655105506" border="0" /></a><br />The board works well though the transistor gets hot, so do add a heat sink. The bare board etched at home using toner transfer looks like<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDmUg_bir7I/TbYGH0eGHtI/AAAAAAAAAII/oMy5AG-1KHk/s1600/stanham-board-real.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDmUg_bir7I/TbYGH0eGHtI/AAAAAAAAAII/oMy5AG-1KHk/s400/stanham-board-real.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599669918095515346" border="0" /></a><br />and once populated it looks like this:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UogzT88K5Wk/TbYGPM0HgNI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/prTjmTwUusI/s1600/stanham-populated.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UogzT88K5Wk/TbYGPM0HgNI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/prTjmTwUusI/s400/stanham-populated.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599670044889415890" border="0" /></a><br />Pardon the messy tin, I'm trying to protect the copper layer from oxidizing away. Be careful when trying to run this for the first time. Most likely you'll short circuit the power supply :) The driver is very sensitive to the position of the POTS RV1 and RV2. Start with RV2 set so that R6 is connected to ground and set RV1 so that R3 is connected to ground. Then apply power to P3 (0-5V) and start increasing RV1. You can estimate the current that will be flowing even before you attach your dummy laser by measuring the voltage over C4 multiply that by two and assume 1V=1A. So if you read 125mV, you driver would output 250mA. The voltage at pin1 of the IC should be twice the voltage at pin 3 and equal to the voltage over R10 when a diode or dummy load is present.<br /><br />Components<br />1 x Transistor 2SD1758TLR<br />3 x Diodes 1N4148WS<br />1 x Dual opamp LM358MX<br />2 x 10k Trim pots PVG5A103C03R00<br />1 x SDM1210 LED LTST-C930KGKT<br />1 x 1 Watt 2512 SMD 1 Ohm transistor<br />1 x 100uF capacitor<br />1 x 100nF SMD805 ceramic capacitors<br />7 x 10k SMD805 resistors<br />2 x 1k SMD805 resistor<br />2 x 470pF 805 SMD ceramic capacitors (optional)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-27720197636140159142011-04-24T21:44:00.000-07:002011-04-24T22:09:30.796-07:001 Watt laser preparations<div style="text-align: left;">How nice to have an quiet Sunday working on your hobby in the garage. I spent the day preparing the CNC for the new laser diode that is coming this week. I'm getting a 1 Watt 445nm laser diode! For this purpose I thought it time to close up the CNC so no light shoots around and gets me or any of the kids ;-) and yes I do have the proper goggles as well, OD7+ for this wavelength. Don't even think to run that diode at it's full power without that. Be smart.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nc9sw1kUmc8/TbUA8D_26gI/AAAAAAAAAHw/_p0J6M8562Y/s1600/overview.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nc9sw1kUmc8/TbUA8D_26gI/AAAAAAAAAHw/_p0J6M8562Y/s400/overview.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599382743570377218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I've engraved the enclosing with the laser itself. The header of the blog is actually a shot of the case. Not bad looking :) I created that G-Code with <a href="http://www.timeguy.com/cradek/truetype">truetype-tracer</a>. This delivers some smooth looking fonts and allows for 'filling' Note that the filling requires you to turn off block-delete in EMC otherwise it will not fill. I've wasted a good amount of time trying to figure that out.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yynHEBI9ph4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /></div><br />I've been trying to get the laser to cut stencils in some overhead sheets that I bought, but so far I've not been happy with the results. The TQFP32 footprint is tiny and the plastic melts too much. I still have a lot of parameters to tweak so it's a work in progress.<br /><br />I seem to have broken the home switch on the y-axis. I'll have to look at the printer carcasses I have sitting in the corner for any more switches.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-88757564270860947182011-04-19T22:05:00.000-07:002011-04-19T22:24:11.103-07:00Laser530 paper stencil cuttingI finally received the <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/12x-br-diodes-46798.html">BDR-S06J sleds</a> and extracted the diodes from them. These diodes emit light at a wavelength of 405nm and go up to at least 500mA, where they put out about 600mWatts of power! That's not bad. <div><br /></div><div>To drive these I needed a new driver. I was going to go with the FlexModP3 but after waiting for several weeks for my order I ended up building my own. I built a driver based on the <a href="http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/showthread.php/6475-Stan_Ham-diode-driver-(analog)">StanHam</a> design. I added a beefier output transistor and SMT components that I could source. I'll talk about this more in a future post.</div><div><br /></div><div>To show off the new laser wrote a short script that parses a gerber file from Kicad and produces a g-code file for EMC. This allows me to create a stencil for SMT work at the office. The result in paper was quite good!</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_ObB2h40IVY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br /><div>I'll need to find a suitable material to cut, Mylar is the way to go apparently. I'm hoping that overhead projector sheets will work.</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-469917001200990072011-02-11T08:43:00.001-08:002011-02-11T08:44:18.062-08:00VideoLooks like my nexus one doesn't upload properly anymore. Oh well. Manually uploading fixed that.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c0H3B7sGtmY?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c0H3B7sGtmY?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-26259121897569064522011-02-10T21:34:00.001-08:002011-02-10T21:46:53.946-08:00Long delaySorry about the long delay here, it's been a crazy few months. Between work, family life and my CNC computer's hard drive crashing I didn't get any time for my the Laser530. But slowly things are settling down. I even managed to squeeze in some time to fix up my work area.<br /><br />I found an old door in the rafters of the garage and decided that would be perfect for my new work bench. So I went to the local home improvement store and bought a few 8ft 2x4's for $2.30 a piece. Now instead of this small dinky desk I have a good sized work area!<br /><br />With the new work space all setup the tools organized somewhat and a new hard drive in the PC I reinstalled EMC. After about 2 hours I had the CNC running again. Including using the new <a href="http://laser530.blogspot.com/2010/11/parallel-port-interface-pcb-rev-2.html">interface </a>card that I had made a few months ago.<br /><br />With some tweaking I now have the scale setup properly and the axis completely perpendicular! I took a video of my new setup in action with my nexus one but after uploading it's not showing up in youtube. I'll have a look at this again tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-387845357898509772010-11-16T18:44:00.001-08:002010-11-16T18:45:43.259-08:00Seed studio PCBs arrivedWell that took a while. But the <a href="http://laser530.blogspot.com/2010/11/parallel-port-interface-pcb-rev-2.html">PCBs </a>made by Seeed studios arrived today. I didn't get a chance to populate them yet. Maybe I'll get a chance to work on that tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-6612720636765844532010-11-07T10:49:00.000-08:002010-11-07T11:05:20.300-08:00Plastic Engraving<div style="text-align: left;">I've done some work on the CNC machine yesterday and I was able to engrave some really fine text onto plastic. This is the first application for the machine that I have in mind. At work we make some hardware. I'd like to engrave the serial numbers in those cases. As you can see the engraving can easily be done at a lower laser power. Which leads me to the realization I need control over the laser power from EMC2. Maybe <a href="http://www.die4laser.com/dvd-rec/Die4Drive.htm">Drive4Die</a> or <a href="http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/FlexModP3.php">Flexmod</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TNb1owUd8ZI/AAAAAAAAAHI/QZA5MxI8qfs/s400/serial-engraving.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 330px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536882872412926354" /><div><br /></div><div>Also it looks like I'm going to need control over the Z axis to focus the laser on different height materials without having to refocus every time.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've also noticed the machine isn't quite orthogonal, which is not too much of a surprise :). I'll have to work on that a bit as well. All in all it's looking very good.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-23460251765027476962010-11-04T20:48:00.000-07:002010-11-04T21:42:10.402-07:00LPC-815 DiodesThe LPC-815 sleds and goggles arrived today. This guy made a great video showing you how to extract the diodes without harming them. Note that these are LOC (long open can) style diodes. That means the internals are not protected! Yikes. To prevent filings from getting into the diode I put some tape over the hole at the top. Then before I snap the thing open I carefully cleaned the filings away.<br /><br />I was a little shocked when I finally got the diode out. It looked as if I had broken it. They really mean "long open can"! I Carefully placed the diode in the new holder and attached the wires. Negative on the top lead and positive on the left lead for this particular diode (YMMV).<br /><br />The datasheet for this diode can be <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f50/loc-diode-data-sheet-47665.html">found here</a>. Note that it says that 400mW is it's maximum and should only be driven this high if it's pulsed... Clearly the guys on the forums disagree. LaserPointerForums has <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f50/question-about-lpc-815-loc-forward-voltage-46572.html">this nice graph up</a>. Also this thread has a good collection of the <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/diodes-compilation-all-diodes-data-one-thread-45042.html">various diodes out there</a>. This list says this diode should handle 350-420mA...<br /><br />The goggles came today, both from Wicked and LaserGlow. Wicked runs a terrible operation they didn't even know the glasses had shipped and I ended up asking them to cancel the order. Now I have two safety goggles. I took the Laser Glow goggles home with me to test.<br /><br />When I hooked up the new LPC-815 diode I thought I had killed it as I saw no laser light while wearing the goggles. I was expecting to see at least some dot of light. To my suprise I noticed that the laser WAS on the goggles simply blocked it fully. Tomorrow I'll try the Wicked goggles they are a lower OD rating. I would like to see the laser a little if possible.<br /><br />Sadly I had forgotten my multimeter so I am not sure how much current I was putting through the diode but it's burning just fine! It went straight through the thin balsa wood! Maybe I can use the CNC cutter to make some airplanes :)<br /><br />Things are looking good!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-26302088035498759572010-11-02T09:51:00.000-07:002010-11-02T11:21:40.231-07:00Parallel Port Interface PCB rev 2With what I learned from revision 1 of the parallel port interface PCB I designed the new version. The goals I wanted to achieve compared to revision 1 are:<br /><ul><li>Better protection of parallel port.</li><li>Input / Ouput selection for bidirectional ports.</li><li>Actual working relay up to 2 amps at 12v.</li><li>Smaller (3.2 x 1.6").<br /></li><li>More GND outputs.</li><li>Always on 5V output (VCC).</li></ul>Features from Rev 1<br /><ul><li>Efficient Power supply (using switching power supply).<br /></li><li>Easy connectors.</li><li>Reasonable priced components.</li><li>ESTOP relay shuts down 12 and 5v lines.</li><li>Integrated pull ups for input lines.<br /></li></ul><br />So the new revision does that I believe. I've ordered 10 PCBs from <a href="http://www.seeedstudio.com/">Seeedstudios</a>. This means I'll have a few left over. If anyone is interested in them let me know. I'll have all the components as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TNBCOkGBTrI/AAAAAAAAAG4/aL9YLVf35EY/s1600/laser530-pcb-rev2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TNBCOkGBTrI/AAAAAAAAAG4/aL9YLVf35EY/s400/laser530-pcb-rev2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534996760012869298" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The new schematic includes a 74hc245, a bidirectional buffer. The inputs have built in pull ups and protection resistors. And the relay switches both the 5v and 12v lines on and off.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TNBDOpoPHsI/AAAAAAAAAHA/FQVgOncZs9o/s1600/laser530-rev-2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TNBDOpoPHsI/AAAAAAAAAHA/FQVgOncZs9o/s400/laser530-rev-2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534997861010185922" border="0" /></a><br />Looking around on LaserPointerForums today I found this guys' build he has a very nice looking <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/built-xy-table-need-more-firepower-47137.html">Laser CNC made out of metal</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-57276088785709071982010-11-01T12:01:00.000-07:002010-11-01T12:13:54.888-07:00Monday updateI didn't get to work on the laser530 yesterday due to Halloween. Hope everyone had fun, we sure did.<br /><br />I canceled the order with WickedLaser for goggles today as they have still not shipped nor given me an order number. They really suck. Buyer beware.<br /><br />I ordered these more expensive <a href="http://www.laserglow.com/AGS">glasses from Laserglow</a>. Don't forget to check laserpointerforums for discount coupons. I also ordered 2 open can red laser diodes from 20x speed DVD drives from Modwerx. They should put a bit more power out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-255431643664282362010-10-30T21:47:00.001-07:002010-10-30T22:33:06.629-07:00First engraving!<div>I was able to spend another hour and a half tonight on the project and I've made my first engraving! Yes you read that right. After 8 days of working on the project, with a full time job and kids (basically only time I could work on this was after 7pm). I've gotten the CNC to the work! Does it still need work? Yes of course, there is a lot of tuning to do. But it sure is satisfying to see the darn thing work!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a photo of the scrap piece of balsa I engraved with the text "Laser 530". Some of the letters didn't quite come out but mostly this is looking very promising. The laser was running at 160mA. There still is some room to go up. I believe I've seen figures of 200mA to be possible and not burn the laser out. Also I need to work on the focusing, which will be a lot easier once I have the goggles.</div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMz7ZYh4tbI/AAAAAAAAAGw/p7XZ2VU7h-A/s1600/2010-10-30+21.46.21.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMz7ZYh4tbI/AAAAAAAAAGw/p7XZ2VU7h-A/s400/2010-10-30+21.46.21.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534074455631377842" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>I generated the G-Code for this sample using a tool I <a href="http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/emcinfo.pl?Simple_EMC_G-Code_Generators">found on this page</a>. It basically does the work for you. Not bad! Below is a short clip of the laser burning the text.</div><center><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZtErQYTEdNc?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZtErQYTEdNc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /></center><br /><br /><div>Todo:</div><div><ul><li>Up Laser power</li><li>Focus Laser</li><li>Turn off laser in between letters (use Z height instead of Spindle maybe?)</li><li>Clean up cables</li></ul></div><br />Good Night!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-45112102748317582482010-10-30T09:05:00.000-07:002010-10-30T09:07:05.670-07:00ESTOP relays friedI found out this morning what was wrong with the ESTOP relays, they were fried :) I could have sworn they were good for up to 500mA, with the steppers taking about 100mA... Lesson learned get a good relay!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-76702417268869825492010-10-29T22:43:00.001-07:002010-10-29T23:07:22.137-07:00Success!!! Both the X and Y axis are movingGood news guys. The with the new PCB and the correct IO address for the parallel port I now have the table and the X axis responding!! I put together a very simple G-code file and recorded the result!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:courier new;">N100 G0 X0.00 Y0.00</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">N100 G0 X8.00 Y8.00</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">N100 G0 X8.00 Y4.00</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">N100 G0 X4.00 Y4.00</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">N100 G0 X0.00 Y0.00</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">M2</span><br /></span><br /><br /><center><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rv8uDZeSAGs?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rv8uDZeSAGs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /></center><br /><br /><br />For some reason I am having trouble with the home switches on the first port of the card. I hope I didn't burn them out somehow :) Though I wouldn't be surprised.<br /><br />It was quite confusing configuring the motor parameters but trial and error did the trick. The interface board works mostly. One tiny thing is not working though, the relays do not respond to the ESTOP signal. I thought that they did work at the office. Gotta figure out what is going on there tomorrow.<br /><br />I've also received the shipment from Aixiz, I had ordered a laser holder (12x30), glass lens and a driver with TTL input. First off this thing is impossible to open by hand, secondly taking out the 5mW laser that is inside is even more impossible. Looks like they put some kind of glue on the threads, why? Oh well, nothing a little brute force can't fix. The DVD laser has been installed and has burned it's first victim. A random leaf. WickedLasers is incredibly slow, they have not yet shipped my goggles! Beware.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Axis, revisited.</span><br /><br />Remember my <a href="http://laser530.blogspot.com/2010/10/putting-it-together.html">post a few days ago</a>,.. I have the axis labeled incorrectly. EMC2 uses the axis rotated CCW by 90 degrees, switching the names. The bridge is the X-axis, the table is the Y-axis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-21711573379876700372010-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:002010-11-02T11:09:37.525-07:00Laser530 Interface PCB<div style="text-align: center;">(EDIT: <a href="http://laser530.blogspot.com/2010/11/parallel-port-interface-pcb-rev-2.html">Revision 2 is available here</a>)<br /></div><br />Alright, after trying to bread board the interface between the parallel port and the various bits on the CNC machine I decided to put a board together real quick. I've used the well known method of <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=toner+transfer">toner transfer PCB etching</a>.<br /><br />The features:<br /><ul><li>Pulls up on line 10 and 11 for home switches</li><li>Break out all input and output lines</li><li>The emergency stop line is on pin 1 and controls two relays controlling power to the machine.</li><li>Power indicator LED</li><li>Efficient switching power supply so hopefully we can use a small 12V 500mA wall wart to power the machine. </li><li>Screw terminals</li><li>DB25 connector<br /></li></ul>Let's look at the diagram.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtYVlA8S5I/AAAAAAAAAGA/7Mm4xEUWs0M/s1600/laser530.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtYVlA8S5I/AAAAAAAAAGA/7Mm4xEUWs0M/s400/laser530.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533613694891346834" border="0" /></a>This diagram has one modification compared to what you'll see in my photos. I forgot to add the pull up resistors in the actual PCB, so I dead-bugged them on top. There really isn't much going on, pretty straight forward stuff.<br /><br />The layout looks as follows with a mix of SMD and regular components.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtYqOa5t5I/AAAAAAAAAGI/MHB48VM9Yz0/s1600/laser530-brd.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtYqOa5t5I/AAAAAAAAAGI/MHB48VM9Yz0/s400/laser530-brd.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533614049603467154" border="0" /></a><br />This is what the resulting PCB before drilling the holes looks like. Yes it's not perfect but hey, it works and it definitely beats paying and waiting for a PCB.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtajh8K5ZI/AAAAAAAAAGo/5LPXD1OgAok/s1600/2010-10-29+14.03.39.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtajh8K5ZI/AAAAAAAAAGo/5LPXD1OgAok/s400/2010-10-29+14.03.39.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533616133607450002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now another hour later the PCB looks like this and is working:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Top</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtZ8wSLwHI/AAAAAAAAAGY/GpzN-3_Q2Nw/s1600/2010-10-29+16.09.16.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtZ8wSLwHI/AAAAAAAAAGY/GpzN-3_Q2Nw/s400/2010-10-29+16.09.16.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533615467442978930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtaO_sY-3I/AAAAAAAAAGg/4KIW_I9FgcI/s1600/2010-10-29+16.32.35.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMtaO_sY-3I/AAAAAAAAAGg/4KIW_I9FgcI/s400/2010-10-29+16.32.35.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533615780817075058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now tonight, hopefully I'll get some movement in the machine!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-53147583049686157792010-10-28T22:24:00.000-07:002010-10-28T22:34:35.666-07:00The steppers are alive!Alright, the stepper drivers came in. As you can see in the videos below I am able to drive both steppers successfully. They use about 150mA when running at about 500Hz. <div><br /></div><div><br /><center><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vVCGT8E_H54?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vVCGT8E_H54?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qqruP6o6z9E?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qqruP6o6z9E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /></center><br /></div><br />As you can see I'm using an Arduino Pro (the blue PCB) to generate the step pulses and the step direction, alternating between a high frequency and low frequency and changing direction. The motors both respond nicely. The red PCBs are the EasySteppers.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Tonight I attached all the wiring and tried to get EMC to control the motors, sadly I was unsuccessful. I think I am having issues with the parallel port card. Maybe I've got the wrong address or something. I'll have to sit down tomorrow and troubleshoot this one. I'd also like to make a small PCB that holds a 12V-5V convertor, some LEDs, DB25 and a relay for the emergency stop. Gotta sleep on that one.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-29981221693968800292010-10-27T20:17:00.000-07:002010-10-28T11:22:59.977-07:00Computer SetupSo I had this old Gateway machine sitting here. It's a hand-me-down from my wife. It has it's issues but appears to be working okay with a new Ubuntu 10.04 install. EMC2 installed surprisingly easy. I was settling in for the long haul, expecting tweaks and hacks but no need at all. <a href="http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?Installing_EMC2#On_Ubuntu_10_04_using_precompiled_EMC2_packages">linuxcnc.org wiki</a> provides an install script and that literally did everything!<br /><br />So far so good. I had brought an old video card as I had read that integrated video cards can increase latency. The documentation states that anything below 15-20ms will be great. Anything in the 30ms will be ok, but might be slow. 100ms will not be any good.<br /><br />I ran the HAL Latency test and the worst case jitter is 23189. Not brilliant but not bad.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steppers</span><br /><br />Since I don't have stuff connected yet (stepper drivers boards coming tomorrow) I decided to get the datasheets for the steppers.<br /><br />The X-axis stepper is a <span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><a href="http://www.mitsumi.co.jp/Catalog/pdf/motor_m35sp_11nk_e.pdf">Mitsumi M35SP-11NK</a> (the sheet says 25Ohms, the unit says 8 Ohms)<br />The Y-axis stepper is a Mitsumi MS35SP-9T (11 Ohm), for which I cannot find a data sheet.<a href="http://www.mitsumi.co.jp/latest/Catalog/pdf/motor_m35sp_9_e.pdf"></a><br /><br />The 11NK - 25Ohm appears to run on 12V or 24V. So I'll be better off starting considerably lower. Maybe even 6V... LM317 to the rescue.<br /><br />Oh and of course I'll have to figure out how to <a href="http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/0AEE7B9AD4B3E04186256ACE005D833B">hook up the stepper motors</a>.<br /><br />One thing I noticed is that the gears have a bit of slop. Meaning that when the stepper starts to turn, the belt doesn't move for about 2 or 3 steps. Since I'm new to all this, I asked ol' google about compensating for gear slop in EMC. Which quickly led me to the official term for this problem: "Backlash" and the remedy <a href="http://www.cnczone.com/forums/emc_linux_enhanced_machine_control/63490-emc_backlash_compensation.html">Backlash Compensation</a>. Documented in the manual under axis configuration <a href="http://www.linuxcnc.org/docview/html//config_ini_config.html#sub:[AXIS]-Section">BACKLASH</a>.<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-46438219715822012242010-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:002010-10-27T10:51:55.394-07:00Putting it together<div style="text-align: left;">Alright, the bridge mount glue has dried overnight and it's time to put it all together! My daughter was quite curious as to what those gears do. She was delighted to find she could move the table and the laser head by spinnging the 'baby' gears. Not only that but the baby gear spins the daddy gear. For those not in the know, that is the smaller gear spins the larger gear,.. not unlike reality :)</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMg83aFeVxI/AAAAAAAAAFw/heLfzh_82ps/s400/showmodel.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 340px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532739064817407762" /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Axis</b></div><div><br /></div><div>After skim-reading some of the EMC2 documentation I think I figured out how to name the axis. EMC2 uses right-handed coordinate system. ( See section 9.2.1 of the <a href="http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/EMC2_User_Manual.pdf">User Manual</a>. ). So making a quick drawing of this I can see that the table will be the X-axis, and the bridge is the Y-axis.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMhmTTA1poI/AAAAAAAAAF4/3x5JF5ECw3c/s1600/right-handed-axis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 332px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMhmTTA1poI/AAAAAAAAAF4/3x5JF5ECw3c/s400/right-handed-axis.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532784623931991682" /></a><br /></div><div>Once I get the stepper drivers I will most likely be looking at this page very carefully. It talks about how to setup EMC2 in a very understandable way (famous last words)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.4/html/config_stepconf.html">http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.4/html/config_stepconf.html</a></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-17173279807065760492010-10-26T23:11:00.000-07:002010-10-26T23:22:58.881-07:00Bridge mounts and table guides<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Good news! The base turned out nice and straight so the 1x1" pieces of wood glued to the bottom did the trick.<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Tonight I worked on the guides for the table, ensuring it moves along only one axis. In the picture you can see the guides are multiple pieces of wood. If I had to do that again, I'd make them out of one piece. The table can get hung up on them if they are not flush, nothing the sander can't fix.</div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMfEigYhGCI/AAAAAAAAAFo/KKXpGOisWnw/s400/bridge-mounts.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532606764335306786" /></div><div>You can also see the clamps holding down the newly cut bridge mounts. The bridge slides into the slots that I have cut, allowing for easy adjustments if necessary.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>PC - CNC controller</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I placed the parallel port and an old video card in the old PC I have set aside for this project. The PC came on and started booting the EMC linux live CD. I've added the video card because some of the posts on the EMC forum indicated that integrated video card sometimes induce latency. Latency is not good as EMC needs this to be as low as possible to guarantee good motor control.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sadly I ran out of time to work on the project for tonight. So I won't know what the latency for this machine will be. The stepper motor controller cards should arrive on Thursday. I can't wait to see this thing move :)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-87302574005894103192010-10-26T11:59:00.001-07:002010-10-26T12:12:46.442-07:00Laser Safety - Labels<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Of course it's always good to label stuff you make especially if it could <a href="http://www.ismp.org/newsletters/acutecare/articles/20041202.asp">potentially hurt someone</a>. <div><br /></div><div>So surf on over to safelasers.org and make yourself a proper label.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.safelasers.org/index.php">http://www.safelasers.org/index.php</a></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMcoF4dbvWI/AAAAAAAAAFY/0ejcQU5Yv0g/s400/warning.php.gif" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 328px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532434748768238946" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-17602849601367735822010-10-26T11:13:00.001-07:002010-10-27T21:06:53.058-07:00NewEgg is FAST<div style="text-align: left;">Well how about that. Ordered yesterday, arrived today. This was shipped from within CA so that helps :)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMcaeALJ4ZI/AAAAAAAAAFI/1inWZsb0uGE/s400/pci-parallel.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532419769993126290" border="0" /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The connection with the CNC laser cutter will be made through a parallel port. (Wow that takes me back a few years) The <a href="http://laser530.blogspot.com/2010/10/shop-time-and-safety-talk.html">interface cards</a> I ordered all take TTL level (0-5v) signals as input. A quick check on the <a href="http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/parallel_output.html">parallel port specifications</a> shows me that it also uses TTL (0-5v) which makes my life extremely easy! </div><div><br /></div><div>Each port has 8 outputs and 5 inputs (don't ask me why only 5 inputs, seems odd to me).</div><div><br /></div><div>2 output pins for x-axis (step + direction)</div><div>2 output pins for y-axis (step + direction)</div><div>1 output for laser</div><div>1 input for home-stop sensor on x-axis</div><div>1 input for home-stop sensor on y-axis</div><div><br /></div><div>Which means, my current design will fit on one port.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-83110470735419135472010-10-25T22:29:00.000-07:002010-10-27T10:15:13.339-07:00Table progress<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMZn7seWKxI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ZnhrxuMAGhg/s1600/y_tension.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: left;">Alright, made some good progress tonight. I routed a hole for the table stepper and gears with the little dremel. This was a bit of an exercise in patience as the dremel appears to be designed for smaller tasks, but it worked as long as I routed thin layers at a time.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMZnr7YWTxI/AAAAAAAAAEw/9mrcaSABftw/s400/x_And_y_pre.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532223196643086098" /><br /></div><div>The tensioner has been put together much like it was in the Scanner tray.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMZn7seWKxI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ZnhrxuMAGhg/s400/y_tension.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532223467519617810" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div>All in all this looks like it will work well. The only concern I had is the base, it being wood means its not in the slightest flat. Looking at that for a minute I realized I should glue 2 wooden 1x1" across the bottom to take out the warp. It's drying now, tomorrow we'll see if they hold.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMZoe4MPgWI/AAAAAAAAAFA/ivYvBjbDnhA/s1600/warped_base_fix.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMZoe4MPgWI/AAAAAAAAAFA/ivYvBjbDnhA/s400/warped_base_fix.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532224071960330594" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-69598411068284741372010-10-25T13:55:00.000-07:002010-10-25T14:11:06.562-07:00Shop time and safety talk<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>I tried to do this without buying hardware but I came to the conclusion that my time is worth something too :), not to mention my eyes. When working with lasers like this (which I believe should be classified Class 3B) please wear goggles, it's simply not worth loosing your eyesight over.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/8-50/Fig5.gif" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 335px;" border="0" alt="" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/8-50/INTRO.htm">Source</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> So I set of to get the following items.<div><br /></div><div><b>Stepper motor drivers</b></div><div>Sparkfun (Colorado) sells what seems to be a great unit the <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9402">EasyDriver</a>. $15 (need 2)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Laser holder and lens</b></div><div>AixiZ (Texas) sells laser holders. I got the <a href="http://aixiz.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=33">12x30mm</a> one with a glass lens. ($20)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Laser Driver with TTL</b></div><div>I could go an modify the constant current laser driver from my previous post, or I could simply spend $6 <a href="http://aixiz.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=208">on these</a> and be done.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Laser goggles</b></div><div>Of course I should really not skimp on the <a href="http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Red_650nm_LaserShades-49-16.html">laser goggles for 650nm laser light</a>, and you should not do so either especially for only $30 at WickedLasers.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Printer Port</b></div><div>Last but not least the printer port. A quick search of the Linux EMC forums tells me that <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815104231">this card</a> will do great, and it has two ports to boot! ($12)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully that is all that I will need for this little project. ( $78 )</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7637780417015485299.post-16260794203310706812010-10-25T13:13:00.000-07:002010-10-26T14:11:49.696-07:00The diode laser<div><b>The laser</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I used to own a large (and overly noisy) dell tower pc, it was clunky heavy and didn't actually perform as good as the price tag suggested. So I wasn't to sad the day it died on me. Luckily for me I ended up keeping the DVD RW drive. Looking at the label it's a NEC ND-3450A, which happens to be a 16x speed drive. For some reason every time you read about a DVD laser hack the 16 speed is mentioned. Not sure why. Anyway, after taking the thing apart I found two lasers. I hooked the bigger one up to a constant current source and voila! It works :)</div><div><br /><br /><center><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3IDgONugFps?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3IDgONugFps?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />Constant current source at 164mA<br /></center><br /><br /><center><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oT2KmOhlDXo?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oT2KmOhlDXo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />Laser diode running at 100mA and 2.23V.<br /></center><br /><br /></div><div><br /><br />As you can see I bread-boarded this one, the circuit was taken from this excellent thread on how <a href="http://laserpointerforums.com/f42/diy-homemade-laser-diode-driver-26339.html">to create your own laser driver</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMchSWoCJ6I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/RUBQLT8wqcA/s1600/constant-current-schematic.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMchSWoCJ6I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/RUBQLT8wqcA/s400/constant-current-schematic.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532427266442799010" /></a><br /></div><div>and a closeup of the breadboard.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMcr6q0w45I/AAAAAAAAAFg/y7ab_Y4w0CM/s1600/cc-breadboard.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aHhZ62M6K54/TMcr6q0w45I/AAAAAAAAAFg/y7ab_Y4w0CM/s400/cc-breadboard.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532438954175947666" /></a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0