Laser Lighter

lser

[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.

Laser Pup

laser_pup

[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.

Continue reading “Laser Pup”

7 Color Hand Held Laser Projector

7color_laser

[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.

Simple Laser Projector

laserscanner

[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.

Point Laser, Get Beer

[vimeo 777847]

Simply tag something with a laser and El-E will go get it for you. We know this is for the disabled, but we can’t help but think of how nice it would be to have around the house. The system is programmed to recognize the illumination from a green laser and is constructed to be able to reach things from the floor as well as tables and shelves. I wonder if they have programmed El-E to go get the laser for you if you leave it somewhere, kind of like when you leave the TV remote across the room.

[via Gearlog]

Laser POV Projector

[shakirfm] sent us this LED persistence of vision (POV) laser projector that can display dot matrix style text. The laser projector contains a rotating mirror assembly and 5 lasers. We’ve covered other POV projectors,but this one is a bit different. The mirror assembly rotates using two cooling fans. Controlling on/off times of the lasers along with the mirror speed, it is able to project 8×5 dot matrix ASCII text onto a surface.
Continue reading “Laser POV Projector”

Turn Your Projector Into A Laser Guided Controller

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJgzwW2C6DQ&fmt=18]

[Alpay Kasal] of LitStudios as come up with an interesting way to use laser pointers as a wireless controller for games and applications. The process is currently being patented, which may explain why [Alpay]’s blog is a little slim in the details. We doubt they’re doing anything more than just using a camera to track the laser pointer; exactly like laser tagging.

If you’re just itching to get your hands on some wireless game play and can’t wait for this to go commercial you could always just get a Nintendo Wii.

[via Engadget]