Laser Projector With Marbles

I created this laser projector for my design project where you can be as unique as possible.

Ever thought of a rotating UFO with laser beams, that's how I got the idea of creating my hand-powered projector. I will be sharing with you the recipe/guide/Instructable of a laser projector for my design project. In this project and we were allowed to be as unique as possible so I wanted my laser projector to spin using marbles and create different patterns on the wall. This laser projector has gaps between the wooden strip or rectangle because I wanted to add a dual reflection of the laser in front and the back. This project will require you a laser cutting machine and plywood to make the product easily.

Scroll down if you want to see my build and thanks to my school teacher who helped me get all the parts and supplies.

Bandsaw

Pencil

Eraser

Laser cutter

Mirrors

Laser

Wood

Tape
9 volt Battery holder

Voltage regulator

Black and red copper wire

Marbles

Hot glue gun

First of all, you need a piece of wood which is 1mm thick. Then you have to go on the software Onshape and create a 3cmx16cm rectangle.

Afterward, share the file from your software with the laser cutter. You can choose the power of the laser so it cuts swiftly through the wood.

Another option you may choose is printing the 20 wooden strips of 3cmx16cm, then paste them on your wooden planks. Later on, you can cut them out using the saw.

Creating the base using Onshape by creating a circle of radius of 24cm. You can choose to either laser cut it out or printing the circles and cutting through it using a saw.

You have to create an Onshape account to create models. Then you have to create a 16cmx3cm rectangle, after you are finished then you have to create a circular base with a radius of 24 cm, small compartments for the rectangular strips will be added at the circumference of the base.

Now you will be ready with your rectangle strip and the base, there is no need to extrude the strips and place them on the base I did in the picture above for a demonstration.

Here is the link if you want to view the models they are in a form of Parasolid files-https://github.com/Builtdifferentagain/Laser-proje...

Find a piece of wood that is 2cm thick and place it under the circular base. Now you have to find the center of the circular base and use a drill to create a hole through it. Then you have to add a 35cm long piece of the stick through the base.

I am sorry I do not have the stick in this picture above, it will be there on the next step.

We will be adding a thin layer of wood next to a smaller piece of the circle in order to form a track. You will be doing this because we want all the marbles to stay in contact and spin the main upper base. The suggested amount of marbles range from 4-6 because it will let the complete structure rotate freely around the axis.

Do not try to add more than 6 marbles because the wooden structure will not rotate and it's due to the fact that all the marbles are clashing against each other which makes them stop.

You need to have a battery in your battery holders and then use the black wire and red wire to join with the voltage regulator. This circuit was based on the battery holder which powers the laser output through the use of a voltage regulator.

If the laser does not turn on I will recommend using a multimeter set at 20 to check the specific voltages mentioned above in the picture.

A hefty amount of time was spent on this part because we were assembling the most important component of the complete product. I made the mistake of using transparent tape which did not allow the laser to stick with the wire. The best possible suggestion is to use duct tape that sticks perfectly onto the object.

The hole we drilled at step 1 majorly affected the bigger base since we are going to pass the wires through it and then tape the laser onto the stick.

If you want to go crazy then, Go and have a try at creating a compartment for the wires underneath the massive rectangular base.

Takes a pen or a pencil and then add a dash or a line on the wooden strips. We are doing this to predict the best spot for the mirror position on the strips in order for the laser to reflect.

Take a hot glue gun and apply glue at the marked spot then take four mirrors and stick them right upon the wooden strips. When the laser hits the mirror and you spin the complete structure by hand it will create different patterns in the opposite directions of the laser.

Use your hand to fix the angle of the laser; our goal is to find that sweet spot where the laser will not move and stay still. Therefore it will increase the chances of our laser striking the mirror instead of the wood.

Sometimes you will find your laser projector creates an Aurora effect when it hit 4 small mirrors at the same time in the middle. I hope you have learned something about circuits or lasers today, now you can create your own projector with our guidance from Instructables.

Again a special thanks to my teacher(James Bryant) who supported me to create an efficient model of the laser projector.

If you guys want to try out a different way of spinning the laser projector, I have also tried to add a motor and spin the base but it does not quite perfectly work.

Here is the link if you want to check it out-