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Parallax laser sensor

kelvin jameskelvin james Posts: 531
edited 2010-09-28 12:33 in Accessories
I just saw the info about the laser position sensor shown in the new products page. It is obvious things did not work out as a commercial product, but it is cool Parallax put the effort in to try and make it happen. I guess more details will be coming soon.

Comments

  • SeariderSearider Posts: 290
    edited 2010-08-24 13:54
    I saw this in the description page

    Note: The Laser Position sensor will not be manufactured by Parallax Inc. or Grand Idea Studio, and it is not for sale. The design files are available under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Only US license, an open-source license. These files are for reference only and are not supported by either Parallax Inc. or Grand Idea Studio
  • Joe GrandJoe Grand Posts: 70
    edited 2010-08-25 15:35
    We're putting the finishing touches on the product page, which will include all engineering documentation, including schematics, source code, BOM, etc. It's being released under Creative Commons and hopefully someone will do something cool with it :)

    Look for it shortly (in the next few hours?)

    Joe
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2010-08-25 17:19
    Thanks for doing this Joe and Paralllax!
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2010-08-25 18:33
    Why was this dumped as a product idea? It looks like a handy and unique module.
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2010-08-25 19:52
    Why?
    Because it hit the wall.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2010-08-25 21:15
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    Why was this dumped as a product idea? It looks like a handy and unique module.

    Possibly lower volume and a very high manufacturing cost. The sensor alone is $25, pushing a retail price near $100 for this product. For that reason we decided to release the whole design under CC 3.0.
  • DimitriosDimitrios Posts: 2
    edited 2010-08-30 06:50
    Ken Gracey (Parallax) wrote: »
    Possibly lower volume and a very high manufacturing cost. The sensor alone is $25, pushing a retail price near $100 for this product. For that reason we decided to release the whole design under CC 3.0.

    Hi all,

    This is my first post in this wonderful forum.

    I did find the Hamamatsu sensor, from Acculux.com, and each one costs US$125,00. Could not find any other reseller.

    That makes a expensive sensor.

    Dimitrios
  • Al BoothAl Booth Posts: 137
    edited 2010-08-30 16:05
    The Hamamatsu website quotes the single piece price as $68. Less, but still more than I want to pay.

    What is needed to program the Freescale MC9S08JM8CLC processor? Is the code available?
  • vanmunchvanmunch Posts: 568
    edited 2010-09-03 16:22
    Was this going to be the laser range finder that Joe was talking about building for 2010 during his interview in the 2009 Parallax product catalog?
  • Joe GrandJoe Grand Posts: 70
    edited 2010-09-06 16:12
    @Al Booth: Full source code is available on the Parallax product page and also on my site (http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/laser-position-sensor/) Programming can be done with a standard device programmer or a Freescale BDM (I prefer the P&E Multilink, http://www.pemicro.com/products/product_viewDetails.cfm?product_id=33)

    @vanmunch: No, the Laser Position Sensor was a project branched off from the Laser Range Finder. While the LPS just didn't make sense to bring into production, I'm still very much working on the LRF and it *will* eventually be done. I've narrowed things down to two designs and I'm trying to determine which is more cost-effective/efficient to move forward with. I'll be using a Propeller for the core, so expect to see lots of questions from me on the forums when it comes time to write the firmware :)

    Joe
  • vanmunchvanmunch Posts: 568
    edited 2010-09-15 20:23
    Cool, sounds great!

    Robots+lasers ==Romeo+Juliet
  • DimitriosDimitrios Posts: 2
    edited 2010-09-28 12:33
    Can this sensor, with a HeNe laser very well collimated, like this one

    http://cgi.ebay.com/COHERENT-INDUSTRIAL-MINI-LASER-DIODE-MODULE-lasers-hene-/190398356553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c54a05c49

    be used to align a machine tool, like a home made CNC router?

    I mean fixing the laser on one stant and the sensor on the head and move the machine in small steps, registering the deviation in a file, then feeding it to the controller. I know that EMC2 can use such information to improve the accuracy of machining.

    Regards
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