Blu-ray CNC looks great for branding and engraving

blu-ray-CNC-branding

[Nav] got the bug for a tiny little laser cutter. He pulled off the build, and has just finished the second rendition which makes some nice improvements. He's was hoping for a laser cutter, but we think this really shines when it comes to branding objects like the scrap wood seen above. This joins a long line of optical drive parts builds. For instance, we saw this plotter that used the lens … [Read more...]

Fairly simple hack makes Samsung TVs reboot forever

SAMSUNG-TV-HACK

[Luigi Auriemma] almost rendered his brother's TV useless attempting to play a simple practical joke. In the process, he uncovered a bug that could potentially upset a lot of people. His idea was to connect a computer to the system via WiFi, masquerading as a remote control.  [Luigi] found that by altering the packet being sent to the TV by adding a line feed and some other characters to the … [Read more...]

RGB laser projector is a jaw-dropping build

rgb-laser-projector

We can think of no better way to describe this laser projector project than Epic. [C4r0] is a student at Gdansk University of Technology and he's been working on this projector for at least a couple of years. It uses several different laser diodes pulled out of DVD burners, Blu-Ray drives, and entertainment equipment (the green diode is from a disco laser). In order to direct the beams he … [Read more...]

extMEDIA: An XBMC disc changer interface

extmedia_dvd_bluray_changer_integration

A while back, [Ben Gilstad] built his first HTPC, loading XBMC on it to manage all of his digital media. He loved XBMC’s features and flexibility, but he needed a way to enjoy his DVD and Blu Ray collection on the device without too much hassle. Far before [Ben Heck] considered fitting his Xbox 360 DVD drive into a CD carousel, this [Ben] was busy hacking a Blu Ray player into his. He bought … [Read more...]

Blu-ray laser plotter writes on glow-in-the-dark screen

blu-ray-laser-plotter

This laser display is persistent thanks to a glow-in-the-dark screen. [Daniel] built it using a Blu-ray laser diode. As the laser dot traverses the screen, it charges the phosphors in the glow material, which stay charged long enough to show a full image. The laser head is simple enough, two servo motors allow for X and Y axis control. A Micro Maestro 6-channel USB servo controller from Pololu … [Read more...]

Hackaday links: June 13, 2010

links-laser-pen-painting

Painting with light [Jo0ngle] wanted a fun toy and an easy conversation piece. He painted a square on the back of his door with some glow-in-the-dark paint. Now he can draw on it using a blu-ray laser or a UV flashlight. Either way, the effect is quite pleasing. [Thanks Justin] Resistor decoder rings This resistor reference card allows you to spin a wheel and dial in the resistor … [Read more...]

Phaser-to-laser mod puts out 465mW

phaser-laser-mod

Here's another Star Trek phaser toy with a laser added. [Jay] started with a 1994 Star Trek phaser and added a 12X Blu-Ray diode. The sound effects of the toy still work, a nice touch that you can check out in the video after the break. That video shows him popping balloons with the laser, a feat made possible by the 465 mW that it puts out when the diode is driven at 320 mA of current. He's made … [Read more...]