#ILDA LASER PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY SERIAL#
#ILDA LASER PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY FULL#
#ILDA LASER PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE#

This board handles communications flow and arbitration via the 2Mbps USB serial port, receiving and unpacking vector data packets sent from the Raspberry Pi via USB. Unlike the Raspberry Pi, it doesnвЂ™t have an operating system, which makes it more suited to real-time, time-critical tasks.

The Propeller is a more traditional stand-alone micro-controller which is programmed in вЂSPINвЂ™ and Assembler.

#ILDA LASER PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE#

Additionally, the software has a graphical window, which can be used for effect pre-preview before adding to a playlist, or for real-time mimicking of the projector output. The application is fully featured, and allows the user to вЂdrag-and-dropвЂ™, create, edit, re-order playlists, load & save playlists to file, tool-tips for user guidance, and a host of other features that help to give the feel of standard media player software. The final project is about 4300 lines of code, and imports roughly 20 inbuilt Python libraries.

It also handles the lower level playlist scheduling, reading of vector files, packing of the data for transmission, and streaming the packed data over a high-speed USB serial port. This Raspberry Pi board runs a multi-threaded Python/Tk application that handles the higher level Graphical User Interface to manage the laser show. The show-card is based around two main parts: A Raspberry Pi 3B quad core Linux single-board-computer, with 7вЂі touch screen (this is the brains behind it all вЂ“ the вЂshow controllerвЂ™ board) and a propeller micro-controller-based output board (spits the signals out to the real world вЂ“ the ILDA output card). To do this, I built my own custom show-controller, which is connected to the ILDA port of the projector. Now, the harder bit! To keep the beam moving to form an image, the laser projector requires a continuous stream of X, Y & blanking analogue signals, updated in real time 25000 times a second. This means that the laser either вЂdrawsвЂ™ a visible line with the beam on, or an invisible вЂretrace lineвЂ™ to move between vector points with the beam switched off. This moves the beam, the safety inputs, and also the signalling that вЂbeam switchesвЂ™ (turns on and off) the red, green and blue lasers. This connector вЂbreaks outвЂ™ analogue signalling for controlling the projectorвЂ™s X and Y high-speed galvanometer-mirrors (galvos). The unit has an International Laser Display Association (ILDA) compliant 25-way D-connector interface on its rear. This is to counter the fact that the вЂspectral responseвЂ™ of the human eye is four times more sensitive to the green wavelength, compared to the red and blue. The 900mW is not split in equal proportions, and actually comprises of 400mW Red, 100mW Green, and 400mW Blue. We bought an off-the-shelf 900mW 25000 points-per-second RGB stage lighting laser projector. The laser show made its public appearance at our annual company summer party, Labfest, in August 2016, alongside an electronic test-your-strength machine and a robotic cocktail system.ДЇirst, the easiest bit вЂ“ the вЂlaser headвЂ™.

#ILDA LASER PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY FULL#

One such project is a full RGB (Red-Green-Blue) laser show, capable of displaying vector-based text, static images, and вЂvector-framesвЂ™ animated displays, for example an analogue clock, a bird with flapping wings, or a rotating LABMAN logo.

At Labman, we also spend time developing personal projects with the companyвЂ™s support.

Ilda laser projector technology