Modified laser projector - your expertise is needed

[Nagilo]

Hello.

For a project (www.level12.eu) we are working with a green laser projector that is modified so that the still output beam has 0.8mW only so that we could get a certification for laser class 2M.

Anyway, the device is just for testing issues and it's far to expensive. Therefore we are thinking to design and assemble our own programmable projector. So, I'm interested in your suggestions. Would you buy all components (laser diode, scanners, safety board, casing, internal DAC, etc.) and assemble them yourself? Or would you write down your technical specifications and send it to a manufacturer in China like Goldstarlaser or Xinxiu laser?

Any help is welcome.

Thank you.

Matthias

[pschlosser]

How many units do you expect to manufacture, sell or need?

[Nagilo]

That depends on the success or fail of our project. But we will start with 5-10 units and all in all about 100 during 3 years.

Mat

[-bart-]

Personally, I would use an of-the-shelf 50mW projector run it at nominal power and fix an attenuation filter in front of the output aperture.
It could be a nd-filter as used in photography, or a polaroid which you can rotate to adjust the attenuation to achieve desired output power.

Assembling a projector with a 0,8 mW dpss laser is not such a good idea, unless stabilized.
Unstabilized low power dpss lasers, as found in most (all) projectors, may take some time to settle, may flicker, and are sensitive to temperature fluctuations.



By the way did you consider using a 405nm blu-ray diode and a fuorising background?
It may yield better visibility, have no temperature/modulation/stability issues and may have a higher "coolness" factor.

[Nagilo]

As far as I know, these filters might get very hot because the would filter like 90% of the beam power. And most programmable ILDA projectors start at 100 or 150mW and are rare to find.

In the environment where we intend to use the laser, we are not able to change or colorized the background. This is why most people (that are familiar with lasers) suggested 532nm green.

Mat

[-bart-]

Very hot? I'm not talking about lee or rosco.
I can't imagine that glass nd-filter and polaroids could not take this power.

goldenstarlighting makes 30-50-80mW lasers

Maybe one of the new green di-diodes is something for you, although costly they don't have temperature/modulation/stability issues either.

[pschlosser]

Anyway, the device is just for testing issues and it's far to expensive. Therefore we are thinking to design and assemble our own programmable projector. So, I'm interested in your suggestions. Would you buy all components (laser diode, scanners, safety board, casing, internal DAC, etc.) and assemble them yourself? Or would you write down your technical specifications and send it to a manufacturer in China like Goldstarlaser or Xinxiu laser?

That depends on the success or fail of our project. But we will start with 5-10 units and all in all about 100 during 3 years.

If your quantities are this low, I suspect you'll find it more economical to build your own, rather than outsource the specs to a builder. Further, as others have suggested, you may find it expedient to modify an off-the-shelf product to suit your needs.

[swamidog]

use a variable beamsplitter like this:

http://www.edmundoptics.com/optics/b...splitters/1750

you'll be able to dial in whatever output power you need.

As far as I know, these filters might get very hot because the would filter like 90% of the beam power. And most programmable ILDA projectors start at 100 or 150mW and are rare to find.

In the environment where we intend to use the laser, we are not able to change or colorized the background. This is why most people (that are familiar with lasers) suggested 532nm green.

Mat

[Robin]

What about finding some green pointer cores that are rated 5mw or lower, modifying the driver to lower the output power to the desired levels, mounting them in a heat sink and running them continuously? With no temperature control, the output power will vary and mode hop as the doubling crystal heats up, but at such low powers, maybe you'd achieve a thermal equilibrium and it wouldn't be too big an issue? It might be worth a try as pointer cores are cheap. I've never messed around with pointer cores, others here or perhaps at laserpointerforums.com can give you a better idea on the task of achieving consistent output with these variables in mind.