Messages

46

LaserShark Support / Re: Adjusting output size with Openlase

« on: March 23, 2017, 09:48:43 PM »

libol and playilda app output plugs should be routed through the output app's input sockets in the patchbay of qjackctl. Doing this will cause all output from libol apps or playilda to be send to the output app. Once you do this you will be able to use the output app to control keystoning/size/power output/etc.

47

LaserShark Support / Re: Galvo distortion with Lasershark

« on: March 23, 2017, 02:06:42 AM »

If you are just going to display a static image I would just tune to this and only after you determine the size of the image you want to display as well as the galvo speed (kpps setting). If you are using openlase, definitely tweak these params first. If they do not work, disable tweaks and then use the pots.

I cannot say I have a difinitive guide to tuning galvos and tuning will vary a little according to how many pots you have (higher quality galvos will have more adjustments). You might want to scan through the photonlexicon.com forums. In fact check that forum out regardless, there are some very knowledgeable folks over there

I would also reduce the complexity of this static image and ensure the paths are optimized. By this I mean I would reccomend drawing the shape in a manner that requires the galvos to perform the least drastic direction changes (i.e. if you are drawing a box, don't draw the left side, then the right side, then the top side and finally the bottom... draw the right side, bottom side, left side, top side).

48

LaserShark Support / Re: Galvo distortion with Lasershark

« on: March 17, 2017, 09:05:42 PM »

It depends on where you buy them, I have seen sub 10kpps galvos  sold on ebay as 30kpps gavos.
You can spot these by their rectangular mirrors (mass limits quick changes in direction so generally faster galvos will have smaller mirrors and those with rounded/chopped corners).
You can also identify them by checking the wiring between the galvo amplifier and DAC (i.e. the lasershark). If the X and Y inputs only have two wires, the amplifiers aren't interpreting a bipolar differential signal which is important for position stability and to prevent distortion at higher frequencies.

Don't forget the ILDA test pattern is supposed to put a little stress on your system too.. otherwise it wouldn't be a very good test pattern

If your galvos aren't making terrible noises but you still see distortion it is possible your galvos are not tuned to be in harmony with OpenLase's default settings. Tuning can be performed in two spots...
1. The galvo amplifiers have a bunch of multi-turn pots which impact the galvo amplifier control loops.
2. If you look towards the top of some openlase executables you will see they have custom tuning attributes. playilda does not use custom settings, but the simple.c example does:
https://github.com/marcan/openlase/blob/master/examples/simple.c#L87

When you tune a system, remember that you are tuning it according to your current setup.. i.e. if you have adjusted the output size/keystoning/kpps rate in the output app, tune the ilda output, and then adjust the output size/keystone-ing again.. you will have to re-tune the system!
Also keep in mind that while you can get close, it is unlikely you will ever get a perfect ilda test pattern.
http://www.laserist.org/StandardsDocs/ILDA_TestPattern95_rev002.pdf

49

LaserShark Support / Re: Galvo distortion with Lasershark

« on: March 17, 2017, 12:16:45 AM »

Good evening Nico,

Galvos systems are sold with a KPPS (kilo-points per second) rating and max angle of deflection. The KPPS rating defines how many times the galvos can move from one max angle of deflection extreme to the opposite max angle of deflection. From my experience the ratings that are advertised are often higher than the galvos are actually able to perform at unless you purchase from a reputable company (i.e. Cambridge Technology).

If you are observing distortions and especially if your galvos are making odd noises (i.e. scraping noises) you are driving them at the KPPS rating higher than they are capable of being run that. This is what Spacelas is describing.

You should fix this! While over-driving the galvos will not harm the Lasershark it will (and currently is) damaging your galvos.

If you are using Jackctl, you can change the rating to something lower until the galvos stop making noises. If you are using lasershark_stdin, at the start of output you can send a line which will inform lasershark_stdin what rate to send samples at.

50

LaserShark Support / Re: Openlase with Lasershark

« on: March 09, 2017, 01:29:18 AM »

Hi Nico,

To use playilda you will need to provide the name of the ilda file and optionally the rate. If you do not specify the rate, the default point rate of 30000 will be used:
https://github.com/marcan/openlase/blob/master/tools/playilda.c#L478

I.e.:
./playilda -s myfile.ilda 15000

or:
./playilda -s myfile.ilda

Prior to running this command you will need to start the jack server if you have not already. Best way to verify that is running is to run another example from openlase

51

3D Printers / Re: Any pointers for making this work in 2017?

« on: February 27, 2017, 09:32:21 PM »

Is there a particular attribute of lasershark_3dp that you want/need? If you just want to work on the hardware then lasershark_display_image and lasershark_stdin seems like it would be a better fit for you.

lasershark_3dp requires the client send png layers and this is what lasershark_display_image accepts too. In the end the difference is going to be the network connectivity and for your purposes doesn't seem like a needed component.

52

3D Printers / Re: Any pointers for making this work in 2017?

« on: February 25, 2017, 09:35:34 PM »

Hi Maso27,

Creation Workshop is software by Envision Labs so if you want support for this you will need to contact this company. If they have gone closed source that is disappointing to hear but understandable. Developing 3d-printer software takes a significant amount of time both to write the software and support it.

lasershark_3dp is pre-alpha code as mentioned on the github page. I developed it under Linux Mint 14 and it should compile just fine on other linux platforms provided you have installed the proper support libraries. Windows is not supported at the moment.

The objective of lasershark_3dp was to act as a "print server". You would attach a raspberry pi to a lasershark, and then run a web server as well as the lasershark_3dp server on the pi.

The webserver on the pi would host a html5/javascript site that would allow you to upload stl files and slice them. These would then be sent in json-encoded png layers over a network connection to the lasershark_3dp server to print.

The front end does not exist yet. If you are up to the challenge of writing this I can answer protocol questions.

If you are only interested in this from an end-user perspective you may want to consider finding another 3d slicer package that will export png layers. You can then use a conglomerate of lasershark_stdin_display_image, lasershark_stdin, a command line app to control your stepper motors, and finally a script to loop through all the layers.

53

LaserShark Discussion / Re: lasershark_display_image

« on: February 16, 2017, 02:59:23 AM »

Thanks for re-posting your questions here.

1. No, ttl modulation is not required. You can specify in the settings of lasershark_displayimage if ttl should be used (monochrome), if only one analog color should be used (greyscale), or if all channels should be used (rgb)

2. You cannot make the galvo angle range smaller via the software. If you need this to occur you should scale down the image from being 4096 bits wide to your desired width.

3. OpenLase has an .ild player called playilda. This is present in the tools directory. It is limited but will play some ild files.

General comment:
If you run lasershark_displayimage with the -h flag (don't pipe this output to lasershark_stdin of course). you can see what options are available for tweaking.

Hope that helps!

54

LaserShark Support / Re: working on raspberry pi 3

« on: February 15, 2017, 06:58:08 PM »

You will need to modify the tools/CMakeLists.txt to comment out the lines that build this as so:
https://github.com/marcan/openlase/blob/master/tools/CMakeLists.txt

Afterwards delete your build directory and re-run through the build steps

55

General Discussion / Re: Getting to 64k speed in OSX on a macbook?

« on: January 23, 2017, 11:03:09 PM »

You can use the dummy backend (-d dummy) which will free you from being tied to an actual system. This is how I run mine.

Hope that helps!

56

LaserShark Support / Re: working on raspberry pi 3

« on: November 21, 2016, 10:58:03 PM »

Apologies Mike, it seems my forum notifications didn't work for this post.

Glad to hear it is working well with the pi 3. It certainly is a little faster than the 1st gen one, isn't it?

Ah and I see you found the image display app too! I've been wanting to try that with a phosphor screen but haven't had the time (I just used a long exposure feature of my camera when testing the app). Looks neat!

57

LaserShark Support / Re: No Galvo movement

« on: May 22, 2016, 03:23:20 PM »

Even if two computers have the same specs (Hard drive size, CPU type/speed, RAM, number of USB ports, and OS) they can still be different. You must account for the differences in drivers installed on both machines. In addition you must account for supporting circuitry (i.e. USB hub ICs within the computers which cannot be assumed to be the same, even if the other specs are.).

Glad you got it working!

58

LaserShark Support / Re: No Galvo movement

« on: May 19, 2016, 10:17:28 PM »

What windows version are you using? Is this connected to a laptop or a desktop? Also is this connected to a USB 3.0 port (identifiable by the blue plastic in the middle of the port)?

There was a time (that is still continuing for some vendors) where the usb 3.0 chipsets behave outside the spec or do strange things. This is especially prevalent on lower cost machines. I believe this is the issue you are encountering.

You can try upgrading your usb drivers, connecting to a non-usb 3.0 port on your computer if you have one, and if not try connecting it through a usb 2.0 hub.

59

SX2/CN2 Tachometer Support / Re: SX2/CN2 Tachometer Info

« on: April 22, 2016, 10:48:43 PM »

Hi Bill,

It is similar, but not the same.

60

LaserShark Discussion / Re: serial communication

« on: February 27, 2016, 12:50:16 AM »

Yes, I can make a text file and pipe it in so the formatting is good.

To confirm, you are generating this file by piping the output of your serial command to a file. You are then piping this file to the lasershark_stdin.exe app and it is working as expected?

This is a very important step to perform as it should indicate exactly what is going on.

When I stream the proper commands to the lasershark via serial (string of commands) it doesn't enable but it doesn't give any errors either. The streaming commands show up in cmd as if I typed them and they look correct but since there is no \n in the formatting, or at least I am guessing that is the issue, it's as if the enter key is never pressed.

It sounds like you are piping in data from an Arduino? I would prefer to have a sample copy of the output to identify what it is going on first before modifying the protocol. You can pipe the text from the arduino to a text file, zip it, and then attach it here.