Build a Laser Effects Show 6 Videos

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Well, not really. A stepper walks through a range, up to 360 degrees, at small 'steps'. The galvo has a smooth movement through a very small range. Take a regular DC motor and put some kind of spring or rubber band that would return it to a single position, and it gives a 'galvo' effect. Good Luck.Perhaps that will be my next video... how to make a galvo with a simple motor. Stay tuned.

astrixz Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - you can use DC motors @ AC voltage...

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Yea, the motor chatters back and forth... however it will 'creep' around and it needs to be brought back with some kind of spring or elastic material.

carloto485 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - hey thanks ok heres a q/a how would i hook up some 5v galvos to my comp and i cant afford hardware so any schematics?

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - My galvos are basically wired as speakers. One is left and the other right. The power that would go to my speakers instead drives the galvos. Most computer speakers are 'amplified' from the headphone output. I don't think that the headphone output would be enough energy to drive the galvos. You notice that I go into a small amp from my keyboards for just that reason.If you got into the wires of your speakers and simply replaced the speaker with a galvo... that might do it.

carloto485 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - well its weird i see people hooking them up to their serial ports answer those use bits up to 8 and 9 do u know anything about those?

carloto485 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - ok so ive seen people hook there galvos to a serial port which uses bits as of 8 and 9 how are those set up

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - NO. Ask them... Sorry. I'm old.

MAXxxyz Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Stepping motors actually make great galvos (as long as we're talking simple stuff as in this video). The big problem is to find a stepping motor with few enough steps. The motor can move back and forth in between two steps, but if the step angle is 0.1 degree, you don't get much out of it. Im sorry i don't really have any links about this...

Sebris Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - so u can just connect the galvos with the source of sound using normal speaker wires? (ones u would usually use to hook a speaker up with a stereo)

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Yes. You have it.

bburakb1907 Says:

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stjohnsnguyen Says:

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3haches Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - hello please.. where can i get diffraction gratings please help me..thanks

chemicalBR0 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Neat.I wonder if it would be possible to control the galvos via the midi output of the keyboard.you could then effectivly program and play back the sequences.do you have any idea if that would work?

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Am not familiar with the midi output levels. Sorry.

reevejohn Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Can you build a Galvanometer? X-Y scanners aren't really cheap. Great Job. I really enjoy your videos. Thank You.

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - I can build a cheap galvo using a simple DC motor. Fix it so that it doesn't deflect too much from a rest position. It will be my next video...

reevejohn Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Thanks..looking forward to that video.

theHikingAntelope Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Hey StarCross42I'm thinking of building my own X Y scanner that can project computer generated images.The only problem i can not find galvo's.do you where i can get good deals on some?You said you're going to make a video about building galvo's. would this be precise enough to do computer generated images?

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - No. for what you want you will have to spend real money. General Scanning is a company that sells galvos. One of the previous posts tells of another company, but I have not purchased from them.

CameramanLink Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Is it possible to get the X galvo to run at 15,750 Hz sawtooth and the Y galvo to run at 60 Hz sawtooth? I want to make a full-resolution 525-line interlaced monochrome laser video projector using an acousto-optic modulator for changing the beam intensity to the video signal. Any ideas on how to start?

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - You are moving a mirror that has mass. 15,750 Hz is out of the question for the size of mirror we have here. I get a resonance frequency with maximum amplitude at around 300Hz and at 900 Hz I get almost no movement. Galvos only have to work at 48 Hz to do the amazing laser pictures you see in a show. Sorry, but I don't think this will help you.

CameramanLink Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - I didn't think something with that much mass could move that fast. Could I use a galvo connected to the vertical output from a TV for the V sweep (60Hz sawtooth)? I think a multi-sided spinning mirror would have to be use for the H sweep, but how could I sync the motor to the H sync pulses? If there's no H sync, with this design, the vertical will lock, but the picture will roll horizontally.

Starcross42 Says:

Oct 13, 2008 - Yea, your TV is moving a beam of electrons with a changing electromagnetic field. I don't think you can get anything like that with galvos...I built a laser oscilloscope with a galvo and a spinning mirror, and it was cool, but nothing like you are trying to build.