Set phasers to “blind”

posted Nov 12th 2009 10:00am by Mike Szczys
filed under: laser hacks, toy hacks

enterprise-phaser-pistol

[Directive0] added a 200mW laser to his Enterprise Phase Pistol toy. This joins the ranks of hand-held laser hacks that we’ve seen around here lately. His build makes use of the stun and kill settings of the toy to switch between different modes. The built-in 9 volt battery holder is tapped into for power. When set to stun, the stun LED indicator is illuminated and a trigger pull sends current limited electricity to the laser diode. When the kill (or blind) setting is selected, the appropriate LED is illuminated and the trigger sends the full current from the battery to the laser diode. Power regulation is managed by the driver circuit for the laser.

This build preserves the unmodded look of the toy gun. [Directive0's] inclusion of protective glass should fend off the warnings we usually see in the comments of these types of hacks.

Comments [25]

tagged: diode, enterprise, laser, phase pistol, phaser, star trek

Reader Comments

“and the trigger sends the fill current from the battery”

I think you mean full.

Posted at 10:04 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by AridTag

@AridTag: Indeed. Fixed.

Posted at 10:14 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by Mike Szczys

forget the glasses, phasers are still dangerous, hence the kill setting on the gun. if you want to be safe, play with [un-modded] nerf guns. you guys have obviously never seen star trek, people die from these things, you ppl are so irresponsible.

Posted at 10:17 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by peter

Hey peter,
There goes the point… you missed it.

Posted at 10:41 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by Idontthinkpetergetsit

“[Directive0's] inclusion of protective glass should fend off the warnings we usually see in the comments of these types of hacks.”

LOL. Nope, I am not going to comment about laser safety this time. Wait, those goggles doesn’t look like the right wavelength. ;o)

Posted at 10:46 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by Concino

As goofy as the overall concept is, this could be useful for star gazing/astronomy. You would of course want to use a green laser, but you would get great stability from a pistol grip laser in comparison to an ink pen style laser.

Posted at 10:46 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by Skitchin

Somehow, putting dangerous devices into toys is just plain wrong.

Posted at 10:58 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by dan

i dont think idontthinkpetergetsit gets it.

Posted at 11:27 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by jωt

Hey, thanks so much for putting me up on hackaday! I am HONORED and definitely NOT WORTHY.

Concino: The laser produces a wavelength of roughly 655nm as far as I know that falls within the absorption range of my goggles. Please correct me if I am wrong.

http://www.dragonlasers.com/catalog/Laser-Glasses-Red-laser-beam-protection-600-700nm-p-16422.html

Thanks again!

Posted at 11:36 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by directive0

Hey directive0.

Why did you do this hack? Because, oh well, what should one do with this thing?

Posted at 11:53 am on Nov 12th, 2009 by blalblal

have fun at parties or one hell of a laser pointer for presentations.

Posted at 12:04 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by sly

@blalblal

Umm, how about just for fun?

Posted at 12:08 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by David S

Why, huh? That’s a tough one. I rarely ask questions of that nature when I’m having fun.

I guess the only statement close to an answer would be because I already had both an old Phaser toy and a Laser kicking around and wanted to try my hand at reworking the case and making the basic control circuitry so I could adjust focus and aim safely without having to wear goggles. I wanted to have two settings so I could use it for burning or just play around with different optics and refractors without worrying about stray photons blinding me. I acknowledge that this is not a very safe practice and could lead to potentially dangerous situations. I do not suggest anyone else do this. I have noticed that with a laser of this power just having a “Laser is on” light is handy.

If you are looking for a specific purpose for this device beyond “pointing it at things and making them burn”, “seeing what crazy things it does in certain glass objects” or “taking it outside on overcast nights and watching it reflect off of cloud bases” well I’m afraid I just can’t give you one.

If your point is that this device is without purpose or a waste of time then you and I are in complete agreement but I still had a lot of fun doing it.

Posted at 12:13 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by directive0

Wear the same color or reflective armor.

Posted at 12:52 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by strider_mt2k

What would be cool if someone was able to
integrate a high power (ie. 7+ watt) laser
diode into a “phaser rifle” (as only seen
once on the Star Trek episode “Where No Man
Has Gone Before”). Now THAT would be one
hell of an actual offensive weapon that one
might be able to use against organics (ie.
living tissue) with devastating effect.

Yeah, I know, I should build one. I’m sure
it’s an easy project

Posted at 5:18 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by Mr Scorpio

@Mr Scorpio:
That’d sure make it past airport security!

Posted at 5:46 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by BBX

Do they even sell toy ‘Phaser Rifles’ ?

Posted at 5:53 pm on Nov 12th, 2009 by BigBubbaX

Eye damage from lasers is permanent. I never like thses kind of hacks, because you know someone will be blinded by the laser at some time.

Posted at 3:27 am on Nov 13th, 2009 by Yoda

Peter and Dan need to read up here more often….<.<

Posted at 3:46 am on Nov 13th, 2009 by blizzarddemon

200mW!?! Since I have a retina burn from a *much* lower powered laser my opinion of this will be obvious.

There have been several cases of dickhead dazzling airline pilots on final approach here in Australia and the authorities are up in arms about it, naturally with talk of “restricting access” to lasers which has intimidated suppliers. This hack is exactly the kind of thoughtless act that has made life progressively more difficult for amateur scientists. It’s about the level of randomly spraying the surroundings with an Uzi. 0/10 and a kick in the bum.

Posted at 7:16 am on Nov 13th, 2009 by Roly

Just because he put a laser in the faser dosn’t mean he uses the laser in a dangerous manor. aka guns don’t kill people people kill people. as for the faser rifle mod united nuclear has a 100 watt laser for sale. That cut things nicely. Ofcorse if a idiot gets one we will have none.

Posted at 7:52 am on Nov 13th, 2009 by Theodore

I like this hack. It might be interesting to work some kind of rheostat function into the project. Of course, the only place I see for a rotating assembly that doesn’t affect the look of the gun is near the muzzle, which would make cramming the components in rather harder.

Posted at 8:59 am on Nov 13th, 2009 by Belenos

@Roly

I figured this was coming, I tried to braced myself for it. As a nerd AND an aviation enthusiast I understand PRECISELY where you are coming from. Here in my home town of Toronto they are discussing the same issues. But I can guarantee you every single kid down at Bluffers park spiking Cessna 150’s and dash 8’s are using off the shelf 5mw greenies they bought from some corner store or mall, and wouldn’t know the first thing about lasers or the safe use of one. You will see no home built laser drivers, no home built laser pistols. These kids DO NOT CARE ABOUT LASERS. I would hazard that anyone who spent more than 5 minutes learning about lasers would realize the stupidity and traceability of that action.

I’m not sure if this is a case of “once lasered, twice shy” or “get off my damn lawn, you kids”. But if my little pistol here just by EXISTING and not being used irresponsibly causes you some duress then I apologize. All I can tell you is I am extremely careful when enjoying my laser, show it to only the people I know are responsible enough to handle it, and I do not discharge the laser at anyone or anything with retinas. I always use proper eye protection, but that goes without saying.

Beyond that, you’re just going to have to relax and realize that people need to have fun and sometimes that fun is ill-advised. May I suggest that in the future you try to judge peoples actions and intentions don’t just assume someone is a douchy plane spiker, cause that ain’t cool.

Peace, Love, and Lasers.
Directive0

Posted at 1:19 pm on Nov 13th, 2009 by directive0

“These kids DO NOT CARE ABOUT LASERS.” QFT!

I had a 5mW green laser from ThinkGeek that I’m 90% sure I lost on the Seattle bus lines on my way home :’( makes me sad.

I want to get me a “nice” cheap green laser again.

Posted at 3:22 pm on Nov 13th, 2009 by srilyk

Lasers are destined to be built into guns. Don’t fight it…

Posted at 9:59 pm on Nov 13th, 2009 by Tachikoma

Set phasers to “blind”

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