In many ways, living here in the future is quite exiting. We have access to the world’s information instantaneously and can get plenty of exciting tools and hardware delivered to our homes in ways that people in the past with only a Sears catalog could only dream of. Lasers are of course among the exciting hardware available, which can be purchased with extremely high power levels. Provided the proper safety precautions are taken, that can lead to some interesting builds like this laser harp which uses a 3W laser for its strings.
[Cybercraftics]’ musical instrument is using a single laser to generate seven harp strings, using a fast stepper motor to rotate a mirror to precise locations, generating the effect via persistence of vision. Although he originally planned to use one Arduino for this project, the precise timing needed to keep the strings in the right place was getting corrupted by adding MIDI and the other musical parts to the project, so he split those out to a second Arduino.
Although his first prototype worked, he did have to experiment with the sensors used to detect his hand position on the instrument quite a bit before getting good results. This is where the higher power laser came into play, as the lower-powered ones weren’t quite bright enough. He also uses a pair of white gloves which help illuminate a blocked laser. With most of the issues ironed out, [Cybercraftics] notes that there’s room for improvement but still has a working instrument that seems like a blast to play. If you’re still stuck in the past without easy access to lasers, though, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of other ways to build futuristic instruments as well.
I am surprised they still have their eye sight… 3W laser aimed directly towards their face and they are looking for the beam with their hands. One wrist watch reflection or sprinkler on the ceiling and instant blindness. I didn’t watch the video because I have no intentions of seeing how this person tried to make this safe.
For everyone else. Do not play with lasers beyond 5mW and please be careful of sellers claiming their lasers are only 5mW. Some have been tested to be more like hundreds of mW. Laser induced eye damage is not something you get better from.
There’s also the sharks. They’re pretty dangerous too.
I usually don’t react well to the safety brigade, but this time you might be right… He says right in the instructable that you shouldn’t use a 3w laser, to stick with the safe ones, and then he goes right on and provides instructions for the pointlessly dangerous version. Lol
It’s a synth that just might randomly jam a pair of scissors into your eye socket. Guess that makes the concert exciting in a way
At least it didn’t slice his fingers off during the first test.
3w will do permanent eye damage before any human could even blink. The attenuation provided by the eye lid probably still isn’t enough to prevent further damage.
3W will (also) burn your skin, with or without white gloves.
The damage can be cumulative and not exactly noticeable at first.
I’ve heard stories about astronomers going gradually blind from using laser pointers for extended periods of time. One would never guess, and the explanation why is a bit complicated.
Similarly how sunglasses without certified UV protection actually make you gradually blind due to the iris open wider than usual allowing more dispersed UV light in. Cumulative damage, over the years (oddly enough, confirmed by my personal sorry experience of using cheap sunglasses for many years).
Jean Michelle Jarre, the French musician who pretty much introduced the laser harp to the world through his concerts, always puts on his safety glasses before performing with this instrument. The fact that the snapshot at the top of the article shows the guy not doing this is a bit concerning (safety last?)
Loves me a laser harp!
i used one at the childrens muesem of play YEARS ago. but it was in the shape of a harp and had as many “strings” (lasers) as a real harp, was really neat
So, a superdangerous Theremin. Even I alerted to that “3W”. Nuh guh duh, wouldn’t be prudent.
Who cares? Doom metal done on a harp is the way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNINWMqxQQc
Takes us back to 1981 !
Jean-Michel popularized the laser harp in his concerts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnAfXK-hft8
The stability of the laser beams is impressive for a stepper motor … well done! I used mirrored galvos on a project a while back but the cost was a bit prohibitive. What I was trying to accomplish was projecting 48 dots spaced 1/2 inch (12.7mm) apart onto a board. On the harp setup, I’m curious as to how many steps there are between each beam and if I could get the 1/2 inch (12.7mm) resolution between the dots with the mirror placed 3ft (914mm) away from the board.
It still seams the easiest way is individual low power pointers and photo detectors. Bonus for 5 pedal operation. Low tech at the source and an array ‘plexed on the detectors. MIDI out! Now do this. Light won’t interfere with electric fields so put a Theremin in the vertical mode for expression of the played notes. Just an idea. Purdue did a laser harp with a haptic glove which gave some feel and expression in playing from what I read in the Exponent.
“living here in the future is quite exiting” – “exiting”? Seriously? Even at HaD?!
But then, exiting this dismal future might not be a bad option.