How does it work?
The Laser Glow Writer works by being controlled from and Arduino Due that is running the TinyG CNC motion controller firmware. The Arduino then controls the 2 stepper motors (X and Y axes) in a coordinated fashion while turning a small laser on and off. This is all spelled out much more clearly in the rest of the instructable so read on!
Why?
I originally designed this machine for Halloween to write spooky messages on the wall all night long, but there are many other cool things that it can do! The first version that I built was big and not very accurate. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I redesigned the whole machine to be smaller and cheaper to build. Above all else, it had to be much more accurate! A lot of care has gone into engineering a really nice project!
So what follows is how to build and drive the Laser Glow Writer!
Links and Information:
Build of Materials (BOM): http://bit.ly/1DEloBh
Design Files: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/glow-writer
Demo Videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSDScKijQXND4C3ORADRqBtwyg3JRC-ul
Math: If you like numbers and want to see how the gear ratios / distance / travel per revolutions were all calculated you can check out this google spreadsheet.http://bit.ly/1uR7FNb
This was created before hackaday projects and I hosted it on instructables. If you would like detailed build instructions please go here.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Glow-Writer-Introduction/
Cool project! Thanks for adding it here.
I like the video showing the Hackaday logo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPBoFbX8RRo
I wonder why the video doesn't embed here?