Info System for Go-Kart track

[Reto]

I run a Go-Kart track in Mombasa / Kenya. www.mombasa-gokart.com

We have a restaurant overlooking the track. I want to fix a laser projector on the roof of the restaurant (about 12m above track).
On the track I want to install several screens (black or white painted walls) and then project data on them with this laser.
like: Actual timings, driver information, adverts, animations. From the given layout of the track and restaurant that would look
very cool. I could even project data on the track itself like the optimal driving line.
The distance from laser to screens would be between 30meters and 100meters. Each screen would have a size of about 2meters.
We operate mainly at night, the place is then under sodium light but with darker corners where I can set up the screens.
With a range of about 60deg the laser could wipe over the whole track. (But is the resolution good enough to produce then
small animations on different screens?)

I am new to lasers, but I have a background as an electronic engineer with a lot of programming experience.
The budget is not more than lets say 3000$ for the whole project.

My questions:
Is this practicable?
One colour laser would be fine. Which one? Which power?
What kind of scanner system?
Is there an all-in-one solution? laser/scanner/driver/sw

What about safety? How powerful can the laser be without causing a risk. The risk of looking into the beam
is small as the beam comes from far above the heads.

Thanks for all possible input.

[Picasso]

Check out a new product called Pixelpusher. This would be much cheaper and brighter then doing a laser projection system.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...99/pixelpusher

[JohnYayas]

I run a Go-Kart track in Mombasa / Kenya. www.mombasa-gokart.com

We have a restaurant overlooking the track. I want to fix a laser projector on the roof of the restaurant (about 12m above track).
On the track I want to install several screens (black or white painted walls) and then project data on them with this laser.
like: Actual timings, driver information, adverts, animations. From the given layout of the track and restaurant that would look
very cool. I could even project data on the track itself like the optimal driving line.
The distance from laser to screens would be between 30meters and 100meters. Each screen would have a size of about 2meters.
We operate mainly at night, the place is then under sodium light but with darker corners where I can set up the screens.
With a range of about 60deg the laser could wipe over the whole track. (But is the resolution good enough to produce then
small animations on different screens?)

I am new to lasers, but I have a background as an electronic engineer with a lot of programming experience.
The budget is not more than lets say 3000$ for the whole project.

My questions:
Is this practicable?
One colour laser would be fine. Which one? Which power?
What kind of scanner system?
Is there an all-in-one solution? laser/scanner/driver/sw

What about safety? How powerful can the laser be without causing a risk. The risk of looking into the beam
is small as the beam comes from far above the heads.

Thanks for all possible input.

Hey, I visited Mombossa around 1992 when I was in the Navy. It ranks up there as one of my favorite places to visit!

Your requirements are quite interesting yet so general at the same time. I can imagine that a system that accepts custom text + rotating canned data would be quite useful. It would not be very difficult to develop a software system to do that but of course it would need to be an SDK so that you can program to it and send your race times to it. You won't get very far with $3000 over here but I know that is a lot of money in Kenya. So, if you can get your hands on something like a Pangolin card (that I assume has an SDK that will output text) and a programmer that works for cheap you might be able to develop a system to do what you want. But, not only that, I think you could market such a solution because it would be useful to others in similar situations. Good luck!

[swamidog]

it's pretty easy to inject text into LSX using an OSC socket. i wrote some code a while back to do that for sms messages and rss feeds.

but i still think you would be better off with LEDs like the link from picasso.

Hey, I visited Mombossa around 1992 when I was in the Navy. It ranks up there as one of my favorite places to visit!

Your requirements are quite interesting yet so general at the same time. I can imagine that a system that accepts custom text + rotating canned data would be quite useful. It would not be very difficult to develop a software system to do that but of course it would need to be an SDK so that you can program to it and send your race times to it. You won't get very far with $3000 over here but I know that is a lot of money in Kenya. So, if you can get your hands on something like a Pangolin card (that I assume has an SDK that will output text) and a programmer that works for cheap you might be able to develop a system to do what you want. But, not only that, I think you could market such a solution because it would be useful to others in similar situations. Good luck!

[JohnYayas]

it's pretty easy to inject text into LSX using an OSC socket. i wrote some code a while back to do that for sms messages and rss feeds.

but i still think you would be better off with LEDs like the link from picasso.

Actually, after reading it again I think he'd get more bang for the buck from some cheap LCD TVs and/or projectors and some cheap PCs to drive them.

[Reto]

I am not looking for the easiest solution. There are ready made info systems for Go-Kart tracks on the market.
I look for something cool and unique. So I insist on the laser ;-) It gives me much more flexibility.
e.g. in off-times I can project on the track. Or maybe project into clouds.
The budget of 3000$ is for hardware only. I have people employed who can do the rest of the work.

This LSX software together with Etherdream looks quiet promising. I do not understand what an OSC socket is.
Any link for more info? Is there a download for a demo version of LSX?

Thanks

[colouredmirrorball]

Yes, you can download a demo version of LSX, but you need to contact drlava (the programmer) directly.
Since I have the feeling I'm turning into a salesman/fanboy anyway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POrAv...ledsHYM-2bxwPd

A Pangolin card with SDK will cost you about 2/3 of your budget.
I believe the best alternative is the Etherdream DAC. If you are skilled at programming you could try to create a standalone app for it as the SDK is freely downloadable, but since you're just a starter in laser systems it might be better to go with existing software. There's just too much that can go wrong.

[Picasso]

LSX (software) $150USD + Etherdream DAC $250 (think of this as the computer laser interface) + Laser projector $1100+

Those are the costs your are looking at. For the projector side of things you can look at http://www.eightonlight.cn/ or http://www.goldenstarlaser.com/ If you are happy with single color (green) You could pick up 2 1+ watt projectors and still be in your budget. eightonlight has a number of projectors that are sealed on the optic side that would be good.

Still need a timing interface that you can get LSX to listen for input from. long range rfid tags on the carts mabe?

[Reto]

Wow ... I really found a lot of information here. Thanks guys!
It looks like I will go for a Green/Blue Laser 1W/2W from "eightonlight" and LSX software + Etherdream.
We are here in Mombasa a bit in the bush. So people haven't seen much lasers. I am sure, if it works out, it will be a great show.

The way I understand laser (as a newby) the projection distance (100m) is not a problem as long as the projection area is small (some meters) and the air clean.
Or in other words: Am I ok with 1W power?

How is it about projection into clouds? They are a bit rare here in Mombasa, but sometimes we have. I estimate at 3..5km distance.

[swamidog]

cool!

let me know if you need some help on the OSC programming side.

i think you'll have a problem with a 100M projection distance. assuming your green laser has a divergence of 1.3mrad and an initial spot size of 3x3mm (very roughly average for a typical chinese dpss green laser).

at 100M your spot size will be ~132mm.

the blue laser is most likely a single 445 laser diode. those diodes are multimode and emit a stripe instead of a round spot. assuming .5mrad on the slow axis and 2.5mrad on the fast, you'll end up with a line that's 52mmX250mm at 100M.

it's late and i'm tired. my math me be off a little, but you get the idea.

Wow ... I really found a lot of information here. Thanks guys!
It looks like I will go for a Green/Blue Laser 1W/2W from "eightonlight" and LSX software + Etherdream.
We are here in Mombasa a bit in the bush. So people haven't seen much lasers. I am sure, if it works out, it will be a great show.

The way I understand laser (as a newby) the projection distance (100m) is not a problem as long as the projection area is small (some meters) and the air clean.
Or in other words: Am I ok with 1W power?

How is it about projection into clouds? They are a bit rare here in Mombasa, but sometimes we have. I estimate at 3..5km distance.