Lasers
(Late 2012)
I used a Homedepot flashlight as the host for my first laser. I machined an aluminum insert to heat sink the diode. I got the diode out of a DVD-RW drive and press fit into an Aixicz housing and two AMC-7135 ICs in parallel as the driver. I powered it off of a single 18650 Lithium-ion cell.
(Early 2013)
The second laser I built I machined a housing from aluminum rod and made a little boost driver. It was driven at 1.8 amps. Unfortunately I lost it.
(Mid 2014)
A new little laser, same boost driver as previous one. It is a lot of fun.
(Mid 2015)
At one point I was working with park rangers from Mozambique with the goal of detecting and catching rhino poachers. A large part of the system was detecting poachers at a range of 1km, a few methods were tested, using a low-light security camera with this laser, and a long range flashlight, or thermal. People were detectable using the laser, however ultimately they decided to go with a commercial system.
I used a Homedepot flashlight as the host for my first laser. I machined an aluminum insert to heat sink the diode. I got the diode out of a DVD-RW drive and press fit into an Aixicz housing and two AMC-7135 ICs in parallel as the driver. I powered it off of a single 18650 Lithium-ion cell.
(Early 2013)
The second laser I built I machined a housing from aluminum rod and made a little boost driver. It was driven at 1.8 amps. Unfortunately I lost it.
(Mid 2014)
A new little laser, same boost driver as previous one. It is a lot of fun.
(Mid 2015)
At one point I was working with park rangers from Mozambique with the goal of detecting and catching rhino poachers. A large part of the system was detecting poachers at a range of 1km, a few methods were tested, using a low-light security camera with this laser, and a long range flashlight, or thermal. People were detectable using the laser, however ultimately they decided to go with a commercial system.
