Hi all,
I'm working on an SLA printer, using a laser diode instead of the DLP method that many are using for UV-curable resins. I'd ideally like to use an X-Y laser galvanometer for the setup, instead of putting the laser on a movable platform. With the correct optics, I can get dot sizes near the diffraction limit - even quadrupling that gives a dot size of around .05mm, and that will take ages to print with a mechanical bed, especially with a z-layer height of a similar size.
Long story short - I'm a mechanical design engineer, and while I have a bit of background in electronics and coding, I am far more versed in the mechanical side of things. Standard laser galvos need to be driven by an analog signal, and most scanners I have found have controllers for this, but they accept input in ILDA/laser show formats, which I have no idea how to deal with. Essentially, g-code is vectors with speed information, so I am curious if there is either a way to drive laser scanners with an arduino/similar microcontroller, or convert g-code into a format that the existing scanner drivers can use?
The other option I would have is to use a delta bot (rostock, cerberus, or one of those derivatives) since the laser diode itself is lightweight and delta bots tend to be much faster than a standard cartesian bot if they aren't too heavy. In this case, I wouldn't have the faintest clue where to start when trying to separate the Z commands out of the delta bot movements, and transfer those movements to a bed raising system.
Any ideas? Thanks!
I'm working on an SLA printer, using a laser diode instead of the DLP method that many are using for UV-curable resins. I'd ideally like to use an X-Y laser galvanometer for the setup, instead of putting the laser on a movable platform. With the correct optics, I can get dot sizes near the diffraction limit - even quadrupling that gives a dot size of around .05mm, and that will take ages to print with a mechanical bed, especially with a z-layer height of a similar size.
Long story short - I'm a mechanical design engineer, and while I have a bit of background in electronics and coding, I am far more versed in the mechanical side of things. Standard laser galvos need to be driven by an analog signal, and most scanners I have found have controllers for this, but they accept input in ILDA/laser show formats, which I have no idea how to deal with. Essentially, g-code is vectors with speed information, so I am curious if there is either a way to drive laser scanners with an arduino/similar microcontroller, or convert g-code into a format that the existing scanner drivers can use?
The other option I would have is to use a delta bot (rostock, cerberus, or one of those derivatives) since the laser diode itself is lightweight and delta bots tend to be much faster than a standard cartesian bot if they aren't too heavy. In this case, I wouldn't have the faintest clue where to start when trying to separate the Z commands out of the delta bot movements, and transfer those movements to a bed raising system.
Any ideas? Thanks!