[vimeo http://vimeo.com/3983501%5D
[Jed] from Toronto’s hackerspace HackLab.TO coded the theme from Super Mario Bros. for their laser cutter. He’s posted the ruby code that generates the g-code from a simple tablature.
Related: CNC music factory Still Alive
[via Waxy]
[vimeo=4130779]
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “I wish I had a laser projector hidden in a zippo”, then you’ll really appreciate this project. [Rog8811], who you might remember from the laser lighter, has made a spirograph style green laser projector that fits inside his zippo. This is very compact and you would have no idea it was there until you open it up. Just be careful, this seems perfect for causing eye damage to someone who isn’t expecting a laser to shoot out of your zippo.
Almost exactly a year ago, we posted the random USB capslocker. [Garrett] has revisited the idea to build a smaller, neater version. He has posted the build process to give us an idea how he goes about building things. The overall build is quite nice, but part if its neatness can be attributed to the fact that he had access to an Epilog laser cutter. If you think you might be using one in the near future, this is a great writeup for you.
[via the Hack a Day flickr pool]
[rog8811] shared his laser lighter with us. He has gutted a zippo style lighter and inserted a blue ray laser module. The old fuel compartment houses the batteries. This is pretty cool, though it might take forever to actually light a cigarette with it. His build log is quite nice with diagrams and detailed pictures of the whole process. Our question is simple, why haven’t we seen this on a James Bond film? Too bad he couldn’t use a stronger laser, like from a laser cutter. We know they do a fine job of cutting pizzas.
[Joe] sent us this project called Laser Pup. After seeing many other projects with the ioBridge like beer pouring and dog treat dispensing, he wanted to make his own. His project allows him to play with his dog via a ceiling mounted laser pointer. We know, you were hoping for something more along the lines of Laser Cats, but this is still pretty cool. He built a web interface specifically for the iPhone to control the laser, room lights, and show a live feed of the puppy playing. You can see a video of it in action after the break.
[rog8811] sent in this really cool hack where he used the optics sled from a PS3 as a foundation for a 7 color hand held laser projector. Combining a green laser, a blue ray laser, and a red laser, he is able to produce a variety of color including white. There are step by step instructions on how to make a multicolored laser. He then goes even further, showing how to integrate this into a hand held projector with pre programmed patterns. You can see some examples of the different colors and patterns in this video.
[kap4001] built what has to be the simplest laser scanner possible. It’s two servos strapped together with zip ties plus a 5V laser module. They’re connected to a Pololu serial servo controller. The laser is pulsed by switching the DTR line. You could use it to draw images like the one above… except that’s an 85 second exposure.
