TinyProjector Lab Notebook

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Diary of March 2002 1-21

March 7, 2002

After a six-month break during which I had to attend other business (my qualifying exam, basically), we decided to continue the work on the TinyProjector.

I had a 3-hour brainstorming with Wilfrido Sierra (wsierra@media.mit.edu) and Jonathan Brill (jonathanbrill@hotmail.com) about the design of a new projector.

Will showed me his laser diodes (6$, from Honeywell; not (yet) publicly available, he got them via Mike Bove, http://content.honeywell.com/vcsel/pdf/sv3644-001.pdf, see Figure 37), and his laser array (with the custom-molded lens array).

Figure 37: Red VCSEL component (preliminary)

He was interested in the lenses I have, scavenged from the cheap key chain laser pointer diodes, so I gave him three of mine. My diodes (without casing and lenses) break very fast and seem very sensitive to vibration; his seem to be more rugged.

I also made a distance holder from a square aluminum tube for a single Honeywell VCSEL diode and an old lens (about 8mm distance). The lens is not symmetric, though; the round part has to look away from the diode. The voltage is 2.3 -2.7V, and it seems to be resistant to under and over voltage (it just doesn't work if not the right voltage). Used two old LR44 button batteries (total about 2.7V) to power it. Brightness is much less than old laser diode, but in a much smaller package (Figure 38).

Figure 38: Honeywell laser diode with aluminum tube holder and two lithium button cells

I also made a mockup of a plastic square tube (diameter has almost the right distance to hold the lens in right distance from the diode) that could hold all 8 diodes/lenses (replacing the single aluminum square tube) (Figure 39).

Figure 39: Mock-up with ABS square tube: front side (top), and back side (bottom)

I also did a Web search for PIC controllers that have bigger memory than the 16F84: looks like the 16F87 and 16F88 have four times the memory, and seems to be pin compatible with the 16F8's. However, unfortunately, they have status "future product"…

http://www.microchip.com/download/lit/pline/picmicro/families/16f8x/39568b.pdf

I found some example code for the 16F87X, which uses the CCS and has arrays in it: http://www.phanderson.com/icd/PIC16F87X_tutorial_sample.pdf

Then I wrote some PIC code that is more systematic than the old one, trying to optimize the algorithm of creating the patterns (Figure 40):

#include <16F84.h>

#fuses HS,NOWDT,NOPROTECT,PUT

#use Delay(Clock=10000000)

#use fast_io(A)

#use fast_io(B)

#use RS232(Baud=38400,Xmit=PIN_A1,Rcv=PIN_A0,parity=n,bits=8,INVERT)

#byte PORTA = 5

#byte PORTB = 6

#define SERVO PIN_A2

char message[12] = {"H","E","L","L","O"," ","W","O","R","L","D","!"};

byte _A[5] = {

0b00000001,

0b11101110,

0b00000001 };

byte _B[5] = {

0b00000000,

0b01110110,

0b10001001 };

byte _C[5] = {

0b10000001,

0b01111110,

0b10111101 };

byte _D[5] = {

0b00000000,

0b01111110,

0b10000001 };

byte _E[5] = {

0b00000000,

0b01110110,

0b01111110 };

byte _F[5] = {

0b00000000,

0b11110110,

0b11111110 };

byte _L[5] = {

0b00000000,

0b01111111,

0b01111111 };

byte _O[5] = {

0b10000001,

0b01111110,

0b10000001};

byte _EXCL[5] = {

0b11111111,

0b01100000,

0b11111111,

0b11111111 };

byte _SPACE[5] = {

0b11111111,

0b11111111 };

void project3(byte the_character[], int the_line) {

PORTB = the_character[the_line];

delay_us(1300);

PORTB = 0xFF;

delay_us(1000);

}

void project2(char c, int line_number) {

if (c == 'A') {project3(_A,line_number); }

if (c == 'B') {project3(_B,line_number); }

if (c == 'C') {project3(_C,line_number); }

if (c == 'D') {project3(_D,line_number); }

if (c == 'E') {project3(_E,line_number); }

if (c == 'F') {project3(_F,line_number); }

if (c == 'L') {project3(_L,line_number); }

if (c == 'O') {project3(_O,line_number); }

if (c == '!') {project3(_EXCL,line_number); }

if (c == ' ') {project3(_SPACE,line_number); }

}

void project1(char the_char, int forward) {

int v;

if (forward==1) {

for (v=0; v<5; v++) { project2(the_char, v); }

}else{

for (v=5; v>0; v--) { project2(the_char, v); }

}

main() {

set_tris_a(0b00000001);

set_tris_b(0b00000000);

int i;

int forw;

for (forw=1; forw>=0; forw--) {

for (i=0; i<12; i++) {

OUTPUT_HIGH(SERVO);

if (forw==1){ delay_us(1900); }

else { delay_us(1000); }

OUTPUT_LOW(SERVO);

if (forw==1) { delay_ms(3); }

else { delay_ms(2); }

project1(message[i],forw);

delay_us(1300);

}

Figure 40: New C code for second prototype, with simpler and clearer algorithm (new.c)

March 11, 2002

I had a meeting with Chris about the TinyProjector.

I updated him on new diodes from Mike: could make a simpler, more robust, and smaller prototype.

We should focus on interaction modes: RSVP, scrolling, etc. Find good applications (or scenarios).

It will be a closed project, done after I have made it work.

He asks: Will it be loud? Probably.

In order to make it quieter, I was thinking about using a magnetic actuator to move the mirror, like a BIRD, CETO, or a MiniMag actuator:

I asked Mike Bove (vmb@media.mit.edu) about more diodes at: http://content.honeywell.com/vcsel/pdf/sv3644-001.pdf

He says, Honeywell does not have a lot of them, but if he gets more, and Will doesn't need them, I can have them.

I should ask Will what he plans to show for the Spring open houses, so that I don’t do something that he shows also.

March 14, 2002

I simplified the servo idea drastically: instead of a normal servo, why not using a 2V Ballooncraft motor that is limited left and right after 90 degrees, and drives the mirror directly? A PIC output pin high means turn left, pin low means turn off (and rubber band takes the mirror back) or turn right (but how to turn the motor off completely? Using two pins?)

I thought a lot about simplifying even more:

Have the motor turn 360 degrees and move the mirror back and forth, like a steam machine. Disadvantage: sinusoid movement; PIC needs to know where the mirror is.
Have the motor turn the mirror directly 360 degrees. Disadvantage: Direct drive perhaps too fast: does it need gears, or just very low voltage? PIC needs to know where the mirror is. Perhaps via magnetic sensor, or via light sensor and LED?

Questions for Vadim:

Serial connection problem (not solved until now): would INVERT help the serial I/O? Or do I need more, like a resistor?
If a pin is set high, will it stay high until it is set otherwise?

March 15, 2002

I made rotating mirror prototype with a small pager motor (Mabuchi J20WA, by Ballooncraft, http://www.toytx.com/6mm13vpagmot.html) (Figure 41).

Figure 41: Pager motor Mabuchi J20WA (6mm diameter)

The sides and the mirror holders are made of balsa wood. The base is made of ABS. The performance is surprising: the motor, driven with 1.5V, spins the mirror, a 1/2 inch x 55mm stainless steel strip, nicely, if the sidewalls are aligned perfectly. And it is amazingly quiet! (Figure 42)

Figure 42: full rotation two-faced mirror balsa test assembly

Main problem with this design: the mirror might not be torque resistant enough. [My solution later will be: use two mirrors, and a steel rod in the middle.]

Next I opened four very old computer mice in order to examine their opto-mechanical shaft encoders (Figure 43).

	Figure 43: Inside the MS Trekker mouse, there is a set of photodiode/IR LED that I unsoldered (the photodiode is already removed on this picture). Below the IR LED.

Then I had a meeting with Vadim:

To control a motor backwards/forwards, use a specific chip, e.g., L293D. Two pins of the PIC would control it: the first makes it move in one direction, the second in the other. Do I have two free pins?

http://www.alltronics.com/download/1330.pdf

Connect one pin to ENABLE1 and the other to ENABLE2, and then take the voltage from OUTPUT (where exactly?)

PIC with more memory: 16F877 (there are more models coming, but not available yet). Very big, but has more memory, and there is a surface mount version.

For rotating mirrors: I need a shaft encoder plus IR LED, perhaps take it from a mouse. These components are probably already digital, so they can be fed into PIC.

http://www.didel.com/microkit/Prix.html

http://www.didel.com/microkit/Encoder.html

Optical encoders by HP:

http://www.micromo.com/images/HEDL_5500_3.PDF

Optical encoder by Honeywell:

http://content.honeywell.com/sensing/prodinfo/infrared/application/ap_00031.pdf

http://content.honeywell.com/sensing/prodinfo/infrared/application/In8eng.pdf

Optical encoder by Omron:

http://oeiweb.omron.com/oei/PDF/D21SX198199199.pdf

Other:

http://www.robologic.co.uk/tutadvshaft.htm

Small Bluetooth chip:

http://www.alps.co.jp/press/new2002/0228-e.htm

Recycled angle-sensor:

http://www.convict.lu/Jeunes/Recycled.htm

Rotary Encoders tutorial:

http://www.ubasics.com/adam/electronics/doc/rotryenc.shtml

March 18, 2002

Meeting with Vadim: We tried to figure out how the IR LED and the photoreceptor of the Microsoft Trekker mouse are used.

The IR pulses, and the two receptors (probably vertically) pick it up. I don't need the pulsing (which was used for lower power consumption), and just one receptor.

The middle pin of the receptor has +5V, either of the outer pins can be used to connect to the PIC. A 20K resistor has to be connected between the pin/PIC connection and ground.

Then I built 3D models of TinyProjector prototype 3 (Figure 44): a rotating two-faced mirror add-on for the second prototype. It uses the before mentioned stainless steel strip (1/4th inch x 55mm).

I also modeled the laser diodes and lenses, all to scale.

Figure 44: 3D model of full rotating mirror assembly as add-on to prototype 2; the existing acrylic plate for holding the laser diodes is red; IR LED and the photoreceptor are purple; the pager motor is yellow; mirror holder elements are blue; rest of housing is green; mirror made of stainless steel stripe is gray.

March 21, 2002

I installed Rhino2 (which can write STL files), and Quickslice (at home and at the lab, requires higher display resolution than laptop can go). Played around with 3D model of TinyProjector prototype 3 (base, slicing, etc).

The following screenshots (Figure 45, Figure 46, Figure 47) are from Quickslice, the program that takes the 3D model (e.g., from Rhino, see above), and generates the slices and paths for the 3D printer.