Laser Galvo - Arduino Controlled
by robives in Circuits > Lasers
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Laser Galvo - Arduino Controlled
![Laser Galvo](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FLR/VU6Z/IH87JZW2/FLRVU6ZIH87JZW2.jpg&filename=Laser Galvo)
Arduino controlled laser galvo. The servo driven mirrors steer the UV laser leaving a phosphorescent trail on the glow-in-the-dark vinyl sheet.
Originally posted on notes.robives.com
![galvo-a07.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FH9/GJLV/IH87JZJM/FH9GJLVIH87JZJM.jpg&filename=galvo-a07.jpg)
Starting with a sheet of luminous vinyl from eBay and a UV laser pointer. Waving the laser pointer round on the vinyl leaves a persistent glowing trace, just like an old style cathode ray tube. Fun, but even better if we can computer control the laser beam!
I’ve come up with a hardware platform that I hope will let me start simple but then experiment with more complex ideas.
![galvo-a02.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F0F/4P62/IH87JZN9/F0F4P62IH87JZN9.jpg&filename=galvo-a02.jpg)
I’m using off the shelf servos driven by an Arduino to steer the beam from the laser.
There are two servos, one for the x axis, one for the y. I’ve attached a small circular mirror tile to the servo.
![galvo-a03.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FFI/HPG2/IH87JZN8/FFIHPG2IH87JZN8.jpg&filename=galvo-a03.jpg)
This stand is made from 3mm laser cut ply – there is a pdf of the parts attached - glue the pieces together using PVA glue.
Downloads
![galvo-a04.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FBB/6OGK/IH87JZM2/FBB6OGKIH87JZM2.jpg&filename=galvo-a04.jpg)
The servos are clamped in place rather than gluing then to make it easy to make small adjustments. These are cheap off the shelf clamps from Wilkos in the UK
![galvo-a06.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F2E/EENP/IH87JZKP/F2EEENPIH87JZKP.jpg&filename=galvo-a06.jpg)
All the parts fit together like this:
![galvo-a05.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FQ1/BPYW/IH87JZKT/FQ1BPYWIH87JZKT.jpg&filename=galvo-a05.jpg)
![galvo-a01.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FVB/0QUU/IH87JZOE/FVB0QUUIH87JZOE.jpg&filename=galvo-a01.jpg)
…and the servos are connected to the Arduino board. I’ve used pins 9 &10 for the servo control lines.
The code for the arduino is attached
Downloads
![galvo-a08.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F4O/06IX/IH87JZJK/F4O06IXIH87JZJK.jpg&filename=galvo-a08.jpg)
Here’s the code in action.
Next step, I think I’ll have a go at a simple raster display.