With a laser pointer, two pager motors, a mirror and a small project box you can build a simple laser projector. The output looks like the patterns that were created by the Spirograph.
Technically they’re neither. If each of the motors only affects the angle of the beam in a single plane, and the two planes are orthogonal, and the nature of the disturbance in each case is truly sinusoidal, and the two motor speeds are constant, _then_ we’ll have a Lissajous figure. But none of these things are true.
So let’s not argue - they’re pretty pictures and it’s a fun hack!
August 15th, 2007
Nice hack. Figures are calles Lissajous-Figures
August 15th, 2007
The figures aren’t Lissajous figures, they’re Hypotrochoids and Epitrochoids.
August 15th, 2007
um… 15 bucks…
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/97ab/
August 15th, 2007
Technically they’re neither. If each of the motors only affects the angle of the beam in a single plane, and the two planes are orthogonal, and the nature of the disturbance in each case is truly sinusoidal, and the two motor speeds are constant, _then_ we’ll have a Lissajous figure. But none of these things are true.
So let’s not argue - they’re pretty pictures and it’s a fun hack!
August 16th, 2007
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