Building a holography table with Hexcel

As some already know, this paper took forever to finish but it’s done and ready for the world to read.

If you’ve got any comments or questions just let me know.

Here’s an excerpt from the the introduction:

This paper describes the methods used by myself and Andres Ghisays in building our latest tables as well as a set of recommendations for those considering doing the same.

Hexcel is a honeycomb material often used by the aerospace industry for making structural panels that are very light but extremely stiff or strong. They’re used in aircraft wings, walkways, satellites, Moon-bound spacecraft and can even be found in many cars.

Hexcel honeycomb (hereafter just referred to as “Hexcel”) as discussed here is a flat panel made out of aluminum in the shape of a honeycomb.

Click here to download and read the PDF paper

HoloController update

If anyone’s interested in checking out the first fully functional (although as far as the final version goes, proof of concept) version of HoloController, I’ve just made a source and executable release through sourceforge.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/holocontroller/

I’m looking for feature ideas as well as people to contribute to the software. Check out the roadmap on the home page for more info on what I’ve got planned at the moment.

Continue reading HoloController update

I am fully operational Sir

The board and software now have everything I need (the rest is a bit fluffy) which includes:
1) Software control of both lasers (although I still need to hook the AC relay board to the 33mW laser).
2) Software switches for the lasers and shutters.
3) Basic light sensors that can check to make sure the shutter opened.
4) Status lights for when a laser is on and when an exposure is in-progress (IE, the shutter is open and film is being exposed).

Some shots of the board follow.
Continue reading I am fully operational Sir

Sourceforge project open

The controller software has come far enough along that I’ve opened up a sourceforge account for it and will start accepting other developers that want to help out with the project.

It’s officially open-source at this point and is being released under the GPL license.
Continue reading Sourceforge project open

It’s alive! Again

The controller software is fully functional again and I can get back to making holograms while continuing to upgrade the hardware and software.

Shown to the left is the board hooked up to two shutters and a light sensor. The lit LED is showing that the light sensor is seeing enough light to activate the input channel.

I’m now going to start the process of opening a sourceforge account and getting the controller software set up under an open-source license.

After I clean my office. It’s a disaster (again).

Continue reading It’s alive! Again

Computer Control for the Table

A few months ago I bought some hardware for interfacing my computer with the outside world along with a relay card and stepper motor card. I had some time over the weekend (actually I just couldn’t put it off any longer) to finish soldering the main board together and hook it up to the computer and table.
Continue reading Computer Control for the Table