Hack N Mod - Amazingly Cool Hacks, Mods, and DIY Projects » Laser

DIY Halloween: When Pumpkins meet Circuitry

Joe L — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:27:02 +0000

No honorable hacker or modder can be satisfied with a simple candle inside of a pumpkin. How boring! Us proud nerds step up and create unique, appealing, and downright stunning pumpkins complete with lasers, LEDs, robotics, motion sensors, whatever it takes! Here are some of our DIY Halloween favorites:

If all else fails, just build a gigantic pumpkin cannon and launch them.

Lasers and LEDs:

Learn to stuff a laser light show inside your pumpkin or stuff it full of LEDs which flash to music. Check out the laser pumpkin featured at the top of the screen.

The SteamPunkin:

Based on the super popular steampunk craze, this pumpkin is fitted with plenty of gadgets including LEDs and motion sensor which shoots steam out of its ears when someone walks by.

Silly String Motion Sensor:

A simple motion sensing circuit using infrared LEDs and a servo motor sprays silly string at unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. A superb, simple project to make your house unique.

Wireless Surveillance Pumpkin:

Although this project barely made the list since it involved little hacking, the concept is still pretty unique and worth a mention.

Super Mario 1-Up:

Instead of using the complex circuit in the pumpkin below, this project keeps it simple by flashing some RGB LEDs to create multicolored mushrooms from Super Mario brothers.

Color Changing Pumpkin:

Instead of buying store bought merchandise like the surveillance pumpkin above, this guy built a completely custom infrared sensing circuit to control the color of his pumpkin via a universal remote.

The Classic Cylon:

The classic “knight rider” circuit is a great edition to any pumpkin and is a simple, straightforward circuit to build.

The SpiderBot Pumpkin:

Even though this is a basic hexapod robot with a pumpkin on top, it’s still guaranteed to freak out trick-or-treaters.

Honorable Mention:

While these don’t involve electronics or circuitry, they’re still incredible and deserve to be part of this list. Be sure to subscribe to HacknMod because you dont want to miss out on future DIY posts!

GhostBusters DIY Halloween Costume (Arduino Powered)

Joe L — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:17:53 +0000

For your DIY Halloween costume this year, Learn how to make your own Ghostbusters Proton Pack equipt with red and green lasers (above). There is a full tutorial on how to build your own along with a detailed photogallery of the proton pack. An Arduino is used for basic controls of the various flashing and fading lights on the suit.

The video above walks you through some features of the DIY Halloween costume. Included are some ecto goggles (seen below) and various other non-fuctional, but super cool-looking widgets.

The full tutorial walks you through the costume build and here’s a second tutorial to help you construct your own. More of our favorite DIY costumes are featured below.

DIY Halloween Costumes & Projects:

Make a 300mW Burning Laser CNC Plotter

Saikat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:09:34 +0000

A 300mW laser might not burn through a wall, it delivers fantastic results as a CNC plotter. This Motori plotter is all about precision and speed. According to the maker, the laser’s power is sufficient to cut into thin films and make a hole 10-12mm deep in high density foam and pyroengrave wood. Definitely good enough to use it in laser plotter projects.

Don’t Miss: Our massive selection of DIY laser projects

Demonstration Photos:

The Motori laser plotter came later. It started out as a flatbed pen plotter built from salvaged parts of old printers and scanners. The use of junked parts makes this a cheap but viable DIY project.

Lasers and pens is not the only thing this machine does. You can also make your own PCBs with it. The photos above are part of maker’s photostream showing the plotter’s handiwork. The project site features plenty of detail, but here is a basic list of materials:

Materials:

2 bipolar stepper motors recycled from printers
Timing belts and tension pulleys
Precision hardened shafts of different kinds
Carriages matching the shafts
Power supply recycled from the printer
A supply of springs and plastic pieces

The results were great for demo purposes as the pen did a fine job with 0.8mm patterns on a PCB. Though it’s not industry grade as the precision is low and the marker pen wears out quickly. The great thing about the project is the complete project documentation that’s provided.

Man, I love the power of lasers! You don’t want to miss our past laser projects:

DIY Blu-Ray 300mw Laser Raygun

Joe L — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:56:27 +0000

We’re plenty familiar with the famous phasers of Star Trek, set to stun or kill and now you can build your own blue laser phaser gun. Taking the shell from a toy laser gun, this modder user two blu-ray laser diodes. Although blu-ray lasers can be expensive, you may be able to salvage them from disc drives or buy them on eBay. Learn how to make one below.

How to Build Your Own:

The video above demonstrates how to make a blu-ray laser for less than $100. The major cost in the project is the blu-ray diode itself. Otherwise, the tutorial is very straightforward and demonstrates step by step how you can recreate the laser gun. Below is video of the first gun in action.

Don’t miss:

Powerful Mini Green Laser Build

jayrob — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:43:24 +0000

Here’s another fantastic tutorial from Jay, a DIY lasers expert. See all of our DIY Laser Projects. I modified this very nice Stainless Steel flashlight into a 50mW green laser. It is very heavy duty, and super small. Below, I will show the modifications that have been made to the host and module.

Important: This is a class 3B laser and should be used with care. Proper eye protection for 532nm wavelength recommended. It can instantly damage the eye if it is pointed directly into the eye. Even reflections can cause eye damage.

Here are the pictures that show the modifications:

These are all the basic parts you really need for the project. It’s a super simple setup really, just the laser module, the battery, and housing. That’s it!

The only major modification we have to make is to simply shorten the barrel of the laser. A simple mod to get everything to fit in our steel housing.

Final Results:

It is a very heavy and solid design with good heatsinking for the module. This design offers the option of using CR2 primaries, or RCR2 rechargeable batteries. I am using a CR2 primary and am very happy with the results, so I will not need to push the module with the slightly higher voltage that the rechargeable battery has.

More Exceptional Laser Projects:

DIY Super Powerful RGB Laser System

Joe L — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:40:34 +0000

We’ve covered loads of outstanding DIY laser projects in the past, and here’s yet another project to add to our collection. This guy collected red, green, and blue lasers and combined them in a project box to create the assortment of colors shown above. The demo video below show some of the laser’s capabilities, but the photos below better demonstrate the laser’s power.

More Outstanding Laser Projects:

Check out full project details and build pics including detailed photos of the inner circuitry of laser box:

Top 5 Custom LED Beer Pong Tables

Joe L — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:06:50 +0000

Beer Pong…The sport of choice of college students. While we would never, ever support over consumption of alcohol, we must admire the engineering and creativity of these outstanding illuminated tables. If you’re new to LEDs, check out our getting started guide, buy LEDs and view LED project inspiration.

Plexiglass, Sound Meters, and LEDs

Here’s a table fully illuminated table featuring neon, a sound meter, and LED lights. You’d probably end up nauseated playing on this thing for too long, especially after a few drinks. The creators posted two video demonstrations you can see here and here.

West Virginia LED Table

One of the original LED tables on the web, this custom design by engineering students in West Virginia includes a sound meter, ball washing, and LED logo in the middle.

LEDs with Sensors

Although it’s simple looking, this table packs some serious hardware including force sensors and wireless communication. Check out a quick video demo.

Neon Glow

Although his one is illuminated by neon and not LEDs, the cool glow and exceptional design still deserves the number two spot on our list.

Sleek and Sexy

Finally! The perfect combination of design and lighting. Just enough light to give it that cool LED feel, while not overwhelming the player with too many distractions.

Honorable mentions:

So! Enough staring at the glory of other people’s fantastic creastions. Get out there, buy some LEDs and create your own incredible LED projects and get them featured on HacknMod.

LaserGlow’s Massive 150mw Green Aries Laser

Joe L — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:30 +0000

Compared to a standard sized pen-laser pointer.

As you know, we feature loads of fantastic DIY laser projects on Hack N Mod. LaserGlow sent in their flashlight-sized 150mW green laser pointer for us to test out and review. This this is a beast, coming in at about and 18 oz. and literally is the size of a flashlight. Aries isn’t the only laser they carry, they have a wide variety of colors and sizes up to the 500mW Hercules which lives up to it’s name.

First, let’s start with the packaging. As you can see, it comes in a sleek “large amounts of cash”-style briefcases and cutouts for all the parts and batteries. Definitely a classy touch to such a powerful laser. Of course, the first thing we did was the classic balloon and matches tests. It’ll pop a balloon in less than a second from about 10 feet away. Matches took about 3 seconds to light at around 8 feet away. It’ll also burn through electrical tape in a few seconds as well. Check out more demonstration videos.

Output Power: 150mW
Pump Diode: 1.0-1.2W 808nm
Diode Make: Osram or nLight
Wavelength: 532nm (green)
Casing: Solid Aluminum
Warranty: 6 Month Standard/ 12 Month Extended

The LaserGlow Difference:

Green lasers have a natural tendency to PEAK in brightness when turned on, and then gradually drop in output power if no heat sink is present. This happens due to over-heating. This type of laser usually looks like a regular laser pointer, but with claimed output of up to 150mW. Green lasers with a heatsink will also produce a PEAK, but will decline in output at a slower rate. Many retailers take advantage of this, and measure the AVERAGE output during this decline. This AVERAGE is taken over only 1-2 minutes- and sometimes over only 30 seconds. Each Aries Series laser from Laserglow is tested to ensure SUSTAINED output power over 10 minutes of continuous operation

In conclusion, this thing is a beast! The beam stretches for miles and will literally illuminate an entire football field. Plus, it looks like you’re holding a light saber when you’re in a dark area (or even a dimly lit area) because the beam is so bright and visible. It also comes with multiple saftey mechanisms and glasses to help prevent any premature blindness.

More photos!

Beam shot across a park.

Another time lapse beam shot.

As you can see by the demo pics above, this thing is extremely powerful and incredibly bright. Head over to LaserGlow for their entire selection of lasers and more photos.

Check out our full collection of DIY laser projects including:

Fantastic Interactive Laser with Sound Effects

Saikat — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:48:34 +0000

It’s almost like playing with a firefly. This awesome interactive laser effect creates a seamless combination of sound and light. It is an interactive example of smart 3D laser tracking technology which allows the laser follows the contours of any object placed in its path. What is surprising is the way the laser picks up any line drawn done in real time on the paper and follows its contours. Amplifying the effect is the tempo of the music which corresponds to the laser’s movement.

The equipment behind the ‘magic’ is a laser diode, a pair of steering mirrors, and a single non-imaging photodetector called the smart laser scanner. The laser is non-hazardous with half the power of a normal laser pointer.

This magic of sound and sight in the video is a brainchild of few guys from The University of Tokyo. Smart laser tracking has fantastic applications and is really a cool way of playing with light. Playing with laser is fun and our range of laser projects will continue to light up your interest.

Most Popular Laser Projects:

Making Music with the Virtual Laser Harp

Saikat — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:13:47 +0000

Laser harp inventor Steven Hobley is back with another exceptional project.� We covered his outstanding laser harp build last year and was also included in our Top 40 Arduino Projects.� So what’s so cool about a harp anyways?� It’s just the incredible cool factor of a classical instrument meeting the future with wicked bright lasers now combined with a “Harp-Hero” video game interface.

A single 450-milliwatt green laser beam reflected by fast moving motorized mirror ‘creates’ multiple beams very rapidly. The variation in hand movements through the laser beams creates the flux. This symphonic change in the beam is picked up by sensor arrays connected to a Nintendo Wiimote. An impOSCar VSTi software synthesizer on a computer interprets the signals via Bluetooth and that’s how hand motion becomes music.

The innovator has shared some of the details on his website and the above video.� If you are looking for more laser projects beam over to view all of our laser projects and buy lasers from our store for your next laser project supplies.