1 Topic by xXxOlivierxXx

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Topic: Filawinder laser sensor light question

Hello Everyone
I purchased a filawinder and finished assembling it yesterday. I managed to calibrate the automatic winding feature but it was not working very accurately (sometimes the filament would go through the laser beam without being detected). After inspecting what could have gone wrong, I noticed that the laser beam projected by my laser diode is nowhere similar to the one advertised in the filawinder videos.

In the videos/thingiverse, the laser beam appears to be a vertical line of light that illuminates all the photosensors, like this:
http://soliforum.com/i/?7jjdtGb.jpg

However, my laser's beam of light irradiates light to a single point, and only illuminates 1~2 of the photodiodes in the PCB, like this:
http://soliforum.com/i/?dhpErqY.jpg

Any ideas?

2 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Filawinder laser sensor light question

Your laser is missing the lens that turns the point into a line.  Let Tim know through the Filastruder contact form that you need a new one.

3 Reply by xXxOlivierxXx

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Re: Filawinder laser sensor light question

That's dissapointing... First, my filawinder had 2 duplicate laser cut parts and another one was missing (which I reported to Tim on Nov 5th by email), and now it turns out another part is missing hmm
I live in Costa Rica, which means it will take 2 weeks for me to get the laser lens, plus $7 of import taxes and shipping.

4 Reply by notstarman (edited by notstarman 2016-11-13 09:16:58)

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Re: Filawinder laser sensor light question

You can operate it with out the laser line diode. Its used to provide an even light source. I would suggest finding a lamp or flash light and using it to illuminate the sencor. As long as the filament cast a shadow on to the photoresistors it should work. So no need to wait on the part.

5 Reply by xXxOlivierxXx

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Re: Filawinder laser sensor light question

notstarman wrote:

You can operate it with out the laser line diode. Its used to provide an even light source. I would suggest finding a lamp or flash light and using it to illuminate the sencor. As long as the filament cast a shadow on to the photoresistors it should work. So no need to wait on the part.

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know how the arduino is programmed to interpret the data received from the sensor, in regards of light intensity, light spectrum, excess of light, etc... So I wanted to stick to the defaults used by Ian when designing the machine, but any alternatives are welcome while I wait to receive the lens.

I actually tried to make my own lens but did not have any luck finding a replacement material I could use to focus the light on a single strip/line.

6 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Filawinder laser sensor light question

An LED would probably work.  The calibration step is able to  deal with whatever the conditions are.  It might be more susceptible to changes in ambient lighting however.  The idea of using the laser was to saturate the sensors to the point that changes in ambient would be mostly drowned out.