AlexP - 06 July 2008 02:52 PM

Vlado - 06 July 2008 05:25 AM

Aha , got it about the line lens but I’m still confused about it’s placement.If you place it farther away from the laser it creates a laser plane? Or do you place it in an angle away from the laser a bit.
Beacause the one from dealextreme says it’s a focused beam , so that’s why I’m asking.

The line lens mounts directly on the collimating lens so no need to worry about that.
There are two distinct steps here:

1. The beam is focused by the collimating lens
2. The focused beam is then spread by the line lens

The only thing you’d have to worry is the angle of the light spread.
Dealextreme does not specify what this angle is. So it would be great is someone can measure it.
Ideally you would want this angle to be >90 degrees so to minimize the number of laser modules used to cover the surface.

~Alex

Hey Alex, I measured one of my lasers and the angle is pretty tight. It measures approx 75-80 degrees (didn’t have a protractor! will get one though )

I placed a couple of A4 sheets of paper down on my surface to illustrate the IR laser spread. Check out the pics below.

I suppose for US$4.30 thats the limitation! I bought 4 of the laser modules, and placement is going to have to be spot on, but it should be OK i think.
The line lens can be replaced with an acrylic rod to maximize angle, but that will be done later if the placement becomes an issue.

**EDIT** Hey looks like an Ultra-Sound Image!!! Freaky!

Fairlane ----------Is it a boy or girl? LOL
AlexP thanks for the advice.

justin - 07 July 2008 12:19 PM

Fairlane ----------Is it a boy or girl? LOL
AlexP thanks for the advice.

Is it a Fairlane :X?

Ok got my lasers in the mail today.

Vlado - 07 July 2008 04:52 PM

Is it a Fairlane :X?

LOL! Maybe??

Talking with Fairlane a few days ago, I showed him a focused line IR laser module that seems to be a very good option. Is the module ULL5-3.5P-850 from World Star Tech that you can found HERE.

The only think they don’t include at the specs sheet is how wide is the angle projected, so I just send them an e-mail to clarified this. I hope to have an answer soon.

Cheers!

EDIT: I also found AIXIZ another provider that could have exactly what we need.

Probo - 08 July 2008 03:41 PM

Talking with Fairlane a few days ago, I showed him a focused line IR laser module that seems to be a very good option. Is the module ULL5-3.5P-850 from World Star Tech that you can found HERE.

The only think they don’t include at the specs sheet is how wide is the angle projected, so I just send them an e-mail to clarified this. I hope to have an answer soon.

Cheers!

EDIT: I also found AIXIZ another provider that could have exactly what we need.

If you look at the pics of my early setup I got my first lasers from WST. They are 90 degree with cylindrical lens that will have diminished light brightness toward the edges, so the usefull angle will be much less. This is why I’m not using them anymore.

~Alex

AlexP - 08 July 2008 05:37 PM

Probo - 08 July 2008 03:41 PM

Talking with Fairlane a few days ago, I showed him a focused line IR laser module that seems to be a very good option. Is the module ULL5-3.5P-850 from World Star Tech that you can found HERE.

The only think they don’t include at the specs sheet is how wide is the angle projected, so I just send them an e-mail to clarified this. I hope to have an answer soon.

Cheers!

EDIT: I also found AIXIZ another provider that could have exactly what we need.

If you look at the pics of my early setup I got my first lasers from WST. They are 90 degree with cylindrical lens that will have diminished light brightness toward the edges, so the usefull angle will be much less. This is why I’m not using them anymore.

~Alex

Thanks for the answer Alex!

I have found the right module at Aixiz, is not cilindrical lens and 120º; now I only need to know the best wavelength as we are disscusing at the other thread.

Cheers!

Fairlane - 03 July 2008 10:31 PM

royc - 03 July 2008 12:18 AM

Thanks fuz3! I’ve got a line lens(as attachment). It creates very nice laser line. I am still looking for 850nm IR lasers. I will setup and test it after I found 850nm IR lasers and IR pass filter.

Hey royc, these are the laser modules I have used in my Laser setup tests. I removed the Red Laser and inserted a DVD-Rom IR laser diode. I needed to remove the current limiting circuit and built my own.

Here’s a quick video of one of my tests with these lasers.

Thanks AlexP for the great idea to introduce lasers in MT setups!  I’m going to have so much fun!

Hey Fairlane,

Thanks for all the posts and your blog its been a great help. I purchased 6 of the deal extreme lasers. I see the lens unscrews and the spring and lens are inside. How did you get to the laser diode area of the ‘tube’? I see a thin seam under warning label. When I look down the tube it looks more like a press fit.

Thanks in adv.

Hey Pragma, No problems that’s what we’re here for!

Yeah you’re right. I removed the warning label, and unscrewed the tube. Once you have removed the smaller tube and taken out the collimating lens, you need to ‘press out’ the existing red laser diode. (You will most certainly destroy it in the process because you will need to apply pressure to the front of the actual diode) Then I placed the IR diode inside the smaller tube and needed to lightly tap the base of the diode to secure it into place, as in the photo I found on the instructables website below:

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more pics.

I’m a huge fan of zero force setups.  I have experience using Fingerworks’ Touchstream LP and that’s really the product that drives my love for multitouch.

My girlfriend likes the FTIR setup because she has to kind of press a little bit in order to trigger the blob.  She’s worried that she hovers her hand too close to the surface and would create blobs with the LLP unintentionally.  What are your experiences with this?

I have seen videos of Alex’s (and others’ setups.  Everything seems to work fine.  However, I have a question nagging me.  (image attached) When you break the laser with your finger, how do you get everything even your finger tip illuminated?  Wouldn’t the laser light only reflex against the outside of your finger?  I’d assume that the laser would hit your finger and some of the light would redirect towards the camera giving you a light “ring” around your fingertip.  Obviously it doesn’t end up working this way.  How DOES it work?

just watch your finger then you put it in front of some light, your whole fingertip will light up as it doesn’t block all the light, almost light your fingertip is glowing ..

ShawnMcCool - 05 August 2008 09:33 AM

I’m a huge fan of zero force setups.  I have experience using Fingerworks’ Touchstream LP and that’s really the product that drives my love for multitouch.

My girlfriend likes the FTIR setup because she has to kind of press a little bit in order to trigger the blob.  She’s worried that she hovers her hand too close to the surface and would create blobs with the LLP unintentionally.  What are your experiences with this?

I have seen videos of Alex’s (and others’ setups.  Everything seems to work fine.  However, I have a question nagging me.  (image attached) When you break the laser with your finger, how do you get everything even your finger tip illuminated?  Wouldn’t the laser light only reflex against the outside of your finger?  I’d assume that the laser would hit your finger and some of the light would redirect towards the camera giving you a light “ring” around your fingertip.  Obviously it doesn’t end up working this way.  How DOES it work?

Two things to consider here:

1 - With proper adjustment the laser light plane will be a thin plane right on the surface of acrylic. Since the tips of your fingers are semi-transparent under IR light wavelengths, they will almost fully light up.

2 - Having a diffuser below your acrylic will result in round blobs even though the light emitted from the tips of your fingers might not be perfectly round.

I suggest you try it for yourself and see what kind of results you will get.

~Alex

check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360073168109

This one comes with line lens, IR diode, etc ...

5mW 850 nm though is that good?

(edit) ... and here is a 650 nm, super cheap… what’s the catch (any?)
http://cgi.ebay.com/650nm-5mW-laser-module-3-2VDC-line-generator-650-nm-OEM_W0QQitemZ110133882481QQihZ001QQcategoryZ53141QQcmdZViewItem

thanks