To test out the idea, I made a prototype of North and South America. To do this, I sketched out the location of the mirrors in SolidWorks and then used this drawing to laser engrave wood so that I would be able to perfectly line up the mirrors where they needed to go. However, the lasers could not handle all the reflections, so I simplified the design by removing some detail. This worked well, but it forced me to abandon the angles I had originally planned and wing it. This ended up being difficult, but it taught me that the final design should have a way to adjust the mirrors after they are put in since a slightly off angle can ruin the whole design. I plan to do this by attaching the mirrors to nuts and bolts so they can be loosened, repositioned, and tightened back into place to make micro-adjustments. It will also be necessary to buy more lasers than originally planned since they’re not as strong as expected. One good thing that I found was that the extra glow created from reflections on the base made it looks better. Although it was not as clean as I first imagined the project, it did help fill in the space better and make the outlines easier to see. Ultimately, this was very promising, and a great first step.
Materials List
Red and Green Laser Pointers
1″x1″ Mirrors
Baltic Wood
Black Bolts
Black Locknuts
Wood Glue
I love the idea of the different colors for the continents. It makes the image clear and easy to view. I also actually prefer the look of the blue/purple laser because it doesn’t have much ambient light. Is your idea to permenantly mount the lasers and the mirror to the board? I want to suggest finding a way to focus the green laser but honestly its probably just how it photographs. All super cool!
I love the look of the laser map. I think it is a really fun and unique abstraction of something that we are all so used to seeing around. I think that having a black background would really emphasize the lasers and really focus all the attention on the map itself. How do you plan on encasing the lasers so that they don’t run off the end of the board?
Your tests came out great with the continents being very identifiable. You mentioned in class how the audience would hold the fog machine, I really like that interactive part! What do you plan on the outside looking like? Will there be a design to it or will it just act as casing for the lasers?