A while back I had the pleasure of speaking with a gentleman named Craig from the ECE Machine shop here at my university. I had the opportunity to talk to him because I was picking up some parts that he had machined for me out of solid aluminum!

I consider them stunning.

Key features include all-aluminum construction for optimal heat-dissipation as well as strategically placed mounting holes for circuitry or additional heatsinks. The should also provide flexible mounting surfaces for the galvos. It will be necessary to use thermal epoxy to glue the coils to the surface for maximum thermal conduction.

I really anticipate these will provide high-performance platforms for the rest of the components.

I am providing CAD drawings of the Base and Side parts in PDF format if you’d like to make them yourself as well. If you’ve like them in an editable format, just let me know.

Over the past couple of months a number of specialized components have arrived for the laser scanner. I shall summarize where to purchase them here.

1. Ball Bearings – 2×6x2.5 Hybrid Ceramic/Stainless Steel Ball Bearings from VXB for $4.95/each.
   These bearings are designed to be especially “smooth” and have an ABEC-5 rating. In searching for bearings, I learned that all is not contained in the ABEC rating, and the ceramic properties of these bearings provides greater smoothness; though they are not rated for extremely high lateral loads. This is not a problem with a couple-gram rotor. Perhaps less expensive bearings would be adequate, however this is a vital component so it was probably worth it.
2. Mirrors – small and thin first surface mirrors off of eBay.
3. Set Screw Collars – 2mm Metric Set Screw Collars model MC-02 manufactured by Climax Metal Products. Purchased at Fastenal for $1.04/each available only in the (especially cool looking) Black Oxide Finish.
4. Machined Galvo Frames! You’re going to have to come up with something for these…

Left to right: US quarter dollar coin, bearing, mirror, and collar.

Completely Offtopic

I highly recommend the following guide for people new to IRC and the unicies:

A Guide to Efficiently Using Irssi and Screen

I’ve been in a bunch of IRC channels lately, including #laserfreak on irc.wiredirc.net, a german channel discussing laser tech, and a bunch of other channels around UIUC.

I spent quite a while building the prototypes. They include the cheap bearings I bought at the hobby store, a steel axle, and the N50 cylindrical magnets.

The acrylic models gave me a good idea of the tolerances involved, but it was clear I needed more precision. I used the dremel to finish the prototypes, drilling holes, and tapping some of them for 2mm screws. Unfortunately my drilling was not precise enough for production work.

I never install the coils more than just for test-fit in the acrylic prototypes. Amplifiers would be needed before any performance testing would be possible anyway. Eventually the prototypes proved useful in demonstrating design to the machinists that would build the aluminum pieces for the final version.

So I’ve been very busy… Perhaps this isn’t the most original way to begin a post after a long hiatus, but alas it is the truth. I hear Charlie Deets has been busy too, and he is back as well.
The summer ended with a bang as I finished up lots of exciting things at Argonne then traveled to WWDC. The conference was completely awesome; good times with good Apple folk. I hope to go back next year; hopefully with some more accumulated Mac programming skill. School is exciting; Algorithms is super hard, User Interface Design is pretty interesting, the first course I’ve had to do a legitimate project throughout. It is going to be pretty awesome.
I’ve hacked together my first AppleScript Studio app; which was fun, and I’ve been doing some intense Python coding for my UI Design class. These are not the most impressive of my current projects though; because the venerable LaserLine is back on track. More updates to follow.