http://hackaday.com Fresh hacks every day Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:24:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/5560f98f805877b0e332f191cb9e0af3?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png http://hackaday.com http://hackaday.com/2007/09/25/convert-a-dvd-r-drive-into-a-lab-scanner/ http://hackaday.com/2007/09/25/convert-a-dvd-r-drive-into-a-lab-scanner/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:16:00 +0000 Will O'Brien http://hackaday.iheartcashews.com:8181/2007/09/25/convert-a-dvd-r-drive-into-a-lab-scanner/ ]]>
[bodiby] was first to send in this New Scientist article about converting a DVD drive into a lab scanner. I did some digging and came up with the details. Here’s the paper describing the process and results. Here’s a basic schematic and description of the mod. A set of samples is placed onto a CDR. A photo sensor is used to locate the samples on the CD, while the laser is fired through each sample. A planar photodiode is used to measure the attenuation of the laser as it’s transmitted through each sample. Sadly, I couldn’t find any details on the custom control electronics.

]]> http://hackaday.com/2007/09/25/convert-a-dvd-r-drive-into-a-lab-scanner/feed/ 15 Will O'Brien