Well, you got me guys. I took the bait, I drank the Kool-aid. I am a wiicamera/laser, lidar, lassiter convert and I am quickly loving the idea. My current problem is with the strength of the laser. Need some, strength that is.
I hit the old Ebay The robot budget is a small as it has ever been so I will have to make do with the "cheap vs time to get your stuff" exchange and order from China. I have found a lot of cheap laser modules but I would like someone to check my math here.
Questions:
A "regular" laser pointer is =< 5mw so I searched ebay for 10mw --the assumption is that if Gareth is getting 3 meters with a 5mw pen, 10 mm should do that with some room to spare. Also it is not in the DVD burner range that will actually blind you.
The wii camera is most happy with IR it seems. Would it not make sense to look for lasers in the 850nm range? Am I wrong here? 850nm is the IR wavelength that "night vision" uses, right?
If the laser is IR, it can still burn your eye, right? Even worse, you wouldn't see it as it happened. Is this correct? Hard to google.
If I am right about the 850mn thing, I would like to stretch the question to if a 780mn unit, at $25 cheaper is a better deal.
Tell you what, if you guys would be so kind, take a look at these two guys and give me your thoughts...
(whiny little kid voice) …yeah but Gareth has one and he just used a regular laser and that laser is probably 650nm and HIS worked and 780 is even better than 650 and it’s $25 cheaper!!!
(regular voice) I hate these decisions… I could save a lot but might get something that doesn’t work in the end. At that point, the one that would probably work is now $10 more --the original 35 bucks PLUS the 10 bucks I wasted on the first part.
Beggars have only one choice: to ask their pals on LMR to test out different lasors with their wiiiiiis and report back with their findings. A Wii-laser matrix is in order!
Groovy --I will try to find it. However, I have not yet found that zip file of code. Did you email it or is it posted somewhere? I appologize if I have been looking right at it and not seeing it!
This is the second time that Gmail has put important stuff in my spam folder in the last week. The last email I lost (and found in the spam folder) was from someone I had a contact for! For cryin’ out loud!
At any rate, I bit the bullet and ordered the $35 laser with money we really didn’t have to spend. 850nm @ 10mw. Should be pretty good. I think I will piggy-back a regular red laser, pointing at the same spot, so I can keep an eye on where the “invisible” dot should be. I am also thinking about a software or manual lock-out for the laser. I want the laser to come on ONLY if it is tilted down. --Should be a pretty good fail-safe in terms of buring out eyeballs --except for ricochets.
Oh, and I am getting “results” already --even without any math, adjustment and with a super-crappy laser!
" In addition, some 18% to 35% of the population possess the autosomal dominantgenetic trait, photic sneeze,[5] that causes the affected individual to experience an involuntary sneezing fit when exposed to a sudden flash of light. Some observers believe that the danger is greatly exaggerated, at least for small hand-held lasers.[6]"
I followed your link rik and I think I have one of these…
A Class 3B laser is hazardous if the eye is exposed directly, but diffuse reflections such as from paper or other matte surfaces are not harmful. Continuous lasers in the wavelength range from 315 nm to far infrared are limited to 0.5 W. For pulsed lasers between 400 and 700 nm, the limit is 30 mW. Other limits apply to other wavelengths and to ultrashort pulsed lasers. Protective eyewear is typically required where direct viewing of a class 3B laser beam may occur. Class-3B lasers must be equipped with a key switch and a safety interlock.
First off, I don’t like the fact that the author chose to switch from W to mW when describing power. The one I ordered is 10mW which seems far below the 30mW mentioned above. I like the “not a problem when bouncing off stuff” idea. This will be exactly what I will have. I guess the bottom line is those funny yellow glasses would probably be a good idea but not completly necessary.That is if one makes sure that there is no chance to look DIRECTLY into this laser…
