DMX- Dual laser vortex
For one of the haunt scenes I was working on I wanted to install a laser Vortex, I decided to make my own because I wanted to have a dual vortex using a UV Laser and a green Laser. In this design I used modified Laser pens as the light source since they are cheap and easy to get.
Parts:
-A green and UV laser pen
-Small piece of plexi glass
-2 small motors with tilted mirrors attached
-Drill, 1/4″ bit
-Zip ties
-Cat 5 cable
-soldering iron, solder
-3.3v and 5v power supply
–Custom DMX board
Lasers:
I purchased a bunch of laser to experiment with I decided to use two standard 5mw laser pens for this project, I used one green and one violet. The modifications to the pens is simple to solder lead wires to the center and casing of the laser pens to allow them to be hooked up to a power supply. The other change is to use a zip tie to keep the button depressed. This will allow them to run continually with out batteries.
Motors:
I salvaged both of the motors that I used from a cheap laser pattern light from eBay. I ended up with two dc motors with tilted plastic heads and mirrors. I soldered longer lead wires on to these to allow them to connect to the controller I made for this project.
Base:
The base that I used for this project was just a solid piece of acrylic I had laying around. I drilled holes to pass zip ties though and to bolt it in place. I mounted both lasers and motors on grommets I has that had curves in them for a pipe which made them perfect for holding the lasers and motors. I zip tied everything in place and made sure they were secure. The longer wires were part of an old cat 5 cable which I added another zip tie to secure to the platform. Since all of the electronics to control this were connected thought this cable that made this basically a moveable head unit.
Control Board:
I wanted this system to be connected to the DMX network I was using in the haunt, So I made up on of the DMX boards I use and added in two relays to allow me to switch the lasers and motors on and off. I used two channels so I could leave the lasers on while the motors were off.