I wanted to bring some more precision and accuracy to doing color laser engraving with my ComMarker MOPA laser. I got a vertical axis digital scale to be able to calculate deltas more easily.

My son and I have been experimenting with the ComMarker B6 60W MOPA fiber laser today, working on...

And now the third Hesai Lidar is functional. This makes for one Hesai 64 and two 128's.

I have my second lidar up and running. This is the Hesai Pandar QT128 up and running. I had to use Wireshark to find the IP address of this one, but it is working very nicely.

Here in my local area they have created a fantastic commemorative park and pavilion of the decommissioned USS Cincinnati, a Los Angeles class attack submarine.

It is alive! Hesai PandarQT 64 LIDAR viewed through @kitware.bsky.social 's LidarView. I need to start playing with this more to see how I can do some mapping of large structures and what things influence the overall precision/accuracy of the measurement.

Anyone have experience with Velodyne Lidar unit repair? I have a VLP32C that I got of ebay. It spins up, my webcam can see the lasers shining on the walls, but it does not communicate over ethernet and there are no activity lights on the ethernet port.

Anyone have a favorite surface mount power module? Requirements: -SMD -No other components required for functionality (no resistors, external caps, filters, etc) -5v, 500-900mA output -12v input

I am reprinting a lampshade that I designed almost 8 years ago. This time I printed both pieces in PETG with a 0.8mm nozzle. The first time, the clear was printed in PLA and at 0.4mm. The green PETG was still wet despite drying it, so I will need to reprint it.

What can you do for ~$3 in filament? Custom print a shelf to hold your NAS, Router, and Doorbell Base Station. Over Christmas break, I was able to clean up all of our wireless networking space such that it is a much cleaner installation and in a better location for speed and space utilization.

Am I the only one that uses drawing to maintain focus during classes or talks? I find it helps me to focus on what is being said while being able to ignore other outside distractions. This was my latest sketch of my Santa hat and an ornament on a wood floor.

Continuing with my concept development for an RC 1:72 @BMT_Defence SSGT submarine. I have found a clean path for wiring as well as making the fins and propulsor shroud separable. The only compromise is using externally visible fasteners for the shroud.

Today's efforts. BMT Defense SSGT concept had a rotor between structural components. Challenging for a 1:72 model! Needs to be: -Structural -Separable for assy and maintenance -Pass wires for control -Water tight Not a trivial task. Grey bar 1" x 5" (25.4mm x 127mm) for scale

Had fun over the last few days laying out a hull plane installation for an RC model of the BMT SSGT concept from a while back. I have three different models that will all need an installation like this. I find PowerPoint is a great tool for quick layout.

Sometimes it is the small things. I was able to design cup and handheld scanner holders for forklifts for some friends. Here is the latest batch for them. About 18hr and 750g of ABS for two sets.

Anyone know where I can get a used Hesai connection box and cable for the QT128 devices that I just got off ebay? Conversely, anyone know of a good Automotive Ethernet (1000BASE-T) to standard ethernet converter for a good price?

When I go ebay sniping I win... 3 for 3. Now lets hope that one of the three is serviceable. What am I going to do with three lidar units you might ask...? Well that is a great question. In the words of the wise Tevye, "I don't know"...

I am back on the microscope project. First up, putting the mount ring on the lens adaptor. It was ~ø1mm too big & needed a hole for the lens release button. 3D printed a shim & used my 60W fiber laser to cut through the ~5mm thick AL to expose the lens release button.

@hackadayofficial.bsky.social the hackaday.social site has not been working for me for a while now. I am not sure of the best way to report things being down except through a different social media site.

This weekend parts came in for the microscope build. Reusing a motorized lift that was a replacement part for my laser that did not end up being used. Coupled to a geared lens positioning system. Then attached to a mount ring. @ubermeisters.bsky.social @gregsaunier.bsky.social

Initial test shots. iPhone 8 as the test subject. The iPhone screen has a 326ppi resolution. The lens was approx 6" (150mm) away from the screen when taking the picture.

Working to get my Canon 100mm Macro lens working with the Pinefeat adaptor. So far so good. I have gotten through the calibration, now to get that into the file so that autofocus can work.

Can't say that I have seen this before. Upload much faster than download. Down is supposed to be a Mb connection, but something is up.

This time under the microscope is a brass gear. It is ø9.4mm, 0.2mod, 45 tooth gear. Each tooth is about 0.4mm tall. In this method, I used a cleaning pass to remove oxides off the surface. That produced a very interesting stippling effect around the cut.

Any of my Cincy friends have a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens that I could borrow? Will be used indoors under very controlled conditions. I want to see how it will work as a digital microscope lens when paired with a Pinefeat adaptor to the RasPi High Quality Camera sensor.

New digital microscope came today. First look is at a tiny encoder that I cut on my laser. The windows are .0027" (.07mm) nominal sized. Some things that immediately jump out are the surface oxides and potential remelted. This view gives me ideas on future process improvements.

My most recent laser 0.2 module gears 0.8mm thick. ø9.4mm - 45 teeth ø3.4mm - 15 teeth I was also able to remove them from the frame and confirmed that they mesh. I still need to make some minor changes on the process, but custom gears in about 30min.

What are people using for lower cost digital microscopes lately? Thinking about getting the TOMLOV TM4K-AF Max. Main use cases are electronics rework and visual inspection of features under 0.001" (.025mm). Willing to spend up to $450 if there are substantially better features.

I went small with the laser. I got the features to 0.008" (.2mm) down to 0.004" (0.1mm) very successfully. From there, I tried to go down to 0.002" (0.05mm). The second picture is the best I could get on my current setup. I might be able to do better with a 70mm lens vs 150mm.

I am excited about this. This is the first engineering part that I have made on my ComMarker 60W MOPA laser. It is about .010" thick, and with deep engraving, it made it through in 3 passes. I am very happy with the result. Now I need to finish my laser enclosure for it.