Remote Surveillance of Lasers

[LisaSelk]

Hi Paul (@paulstaf) & Sean (@zootboy)…

William (@william_petefish) & I have discussed this many times; and, we are both def interested in making it happen!

One of the reasons we didn’t get a close-up webcam on the Full Spectrum was mostly trying to figure out the best way to get a clear shot of the bed - without ruining the webcam with all the smoke/dust/gunk… William has an idea that he believes will work for the Lasersaur (as far as placement). Perhaps y’all can touch base with him and discuss the pros and cons of various hardware and software - as well as optimal placement! We could either create a new page just for lasers, or add them to the 3D Printer status page…

Continuing the discussion from Remote Surveillance of 3d printers:

Remote Surveillance of 3d printers

How about putting a PI-CAM on the Laser cutters and send the feeds to the same web page shown above so that people can watch what is going on the lasers, or know when it is available?

Remote Surveillance of 3d printers

I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to setting up a pair of extra webcams. Probably won’t be able to tie into the status info like the printers do, but a video stream is definitely possible (if not a bit tricky to set up due to laser shielding).

I’d recommend these, due to their low cost but reliable nature: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Webcam-C110-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00519B4YG/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1432854830&sr=8-9&keywords=logitech+webcam

[zootboy]

Basically, I think the easiest thing to do is glue a small square of glass over the lens of the camera. Then it can be mounted inside the enclosure and wiped periodically without hurting the optics.

I’m not really concerned about the well-being of the camera both because it’s cheap / easy to replace and because I don’t think scattered reflections will be able to do any damage to the sensor. Also, if we use actual glass, it should absorb the wavelength of light used by the laser (mid infrared) and keep it from getting to the CCD.

[william_petefish]

I’m not opposed to monitoring the lasers, BUT there are certain hazards to be considered.

Remote Surveillance of 3d printers

How about putting a PI-CAM on the Laser cutters and send the feeds to the same web page shown above so that people can watch what is going on the lasers, or know when it is available?

Pi-Cam will not work here. Too much EMI.

Remote Surveillance of 3d printers

I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to setting up a pair of extra webcams. Probably won’t be able to tie into the status info like the printers do, but a video stream is definitely possible (if not a bit tricky to set up due to laser shielding).

Maybe… BUT I’d need to be the one to run the camera wiring. There are other things too. The cams would be running as high of a resolution as I can get away with.

Remote Surveillance of 3d printers

I’d recommend these, due to their low cost but reliable nature: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Webcam-C110-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00519B4YG/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1432854830&sr=8-9&keywords=logitech+webcam

No. Use Microsoft LifeCams. They are relatively available, and have great quality for their size. (yes, size is one major constraint.) The other thing is I can probably fit the LifeCams into some PVC with an acrylic window.

More over, I can see about it next week. The real issue here is budget. We, for the most part, have a ballpark figure for how much we have. I would say that it is also a low-priority task considering the fuster cluck that the FS laser is. I would rather wait till the next BoD meeting to see exactly how much budget we still have.

[zootboy]

as high of a resolution as I can get away with

I’m curious as to why this is so important to you. My understanding was that is would be for a similar purpose as the 3d printer cams: simple go/no-go on whether the machine is open for use or not. Certainly we don’t want to encourage people to remotely monitor their jobs on the laser due to the fire concerns. As I understand it, constant presence is required to run jobs on the laser.

Also, if size is a concern, the logitech cameras are every bit as small and are generally cheaper and more widely compatible:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Portable-1080p-Webcam-Autofocus/dp/B004YW7WCY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1432940549&sr=8-5&keywords=logitech+webcam