Category Archives: Laser Notables

How LIA Corporate Members Are Innovating the Future of Manufacturing

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The Laser Institute of America aims to foster the future of laser applications. Many of our corporate members uphold similar ideals and they are working hard to advance the future of laser applications in manufacturing.

From the development of new life-saving products to building the future of transportation and researching the next steps in the additive manufacturing revolution, here’s what some of our members have been up to in the last year:

Buffalo Filter Launches Plume Pen Pro

With a 25-year legacy as a recognized surgical safety brand, Buffalo Filter recently launched the new Plume Pen Pro. The device is a surgical smoke evacuation pencil that offers surgeons the “flexibility and option of longer surgical smoke capture ports making the exchange of blades easy and plume capture tailored to plum length.”

The Plume Pen Pro, along with other products by Buffalo Filter, work to reduce surgical smoke inhalation and exposure. This keeps operating rooms safer with user-friendly solutions.

Image: Buffalo Filter

 

II-VI HIGHYAG’s RLSK Laser Featured in Industrial Laser Solutions for Manufacturing

A recent issue of Industrial Laser Solutions for Manufacturing featured a cover article on laser welding for the Ford Mustang, spotlighting II-VI HIGHYAG’s RLSK remote laser welding head. In developing the new Mustang, Ford needed a large-scale, single-sided joining method that did not possess the potential structural weakness of traditional spot welding. Ford then turned to remote laser welding, which not only solved the structural weakness issue – it created a measurable increase in productivity at the production plant.

Starting in 2015, the RLSK remote laser welding head was put into full use by Ford. Four were installed at the Detroit plant, joined by 24 additional structural remote laser heads for the vehicle’s production. Implementing these remote laser heads lead to a decrease in weld time, fewer station cycles, fewer welding robots, and an increase in overall production space.

Image: II-VI HIGHYAG

LPW Technology, Inc. CEO and Founder Discusses 3D Printing Opportunities in Aerospace

Machine Design Magazine recently published a piece on the use of 3D printing for aerospace applications. The article quoted various industry leaders and experts, including LPW Technology Founder and CEO Dr. Phil Carroll. Dr. Carroll addresses the increasing demand versus the quality control of metal powders used in 3D printing. In the early days of powder metal liturgy, the materials were essentially grounded up scrap metal, leading to a high chance of contamination. Contamination of a pure metal powder could lead to a compromised part down the line, because the offending particles may degrade over time.

To combat this, greater inspection and handling of metal particles is required. Working with Lloyd’s Register and TWI, LPW will be certifying powders for a joint effort to increase the adoption of additive manufacturing.

Image: LPW Technology

RPM Innovations, Inc. Working With Okuma America Corp. on Alternative to Combination Additive/Subtractive Manufacturing Processes

 Despite the overwhelming push for additive manufacturing processes across industries, there are still many cases in which traditional subtractive processes are the most effective solution. However, it does not always have to be a case of choosing one over the other, or even combining them.

With the assistance of their laser deposition machines, RPM Innovations and Okuma America are developing options for machines that allow individual operations to occur, by keeping processes in separate sections that link together. Rather than choosing one manufacturing method, or forcing them to overlap, separating the processes allows for differences in processing time, automation in loading and reloading, as well as the addition of other processes in the workflow.

Image: MMS Online

Spectra-Physics Introduces Icefyre

Earlier this year, Spectra-Physics debuted IcefyreTM, “a compact, high power industrial picosecond hybrid fiber laser.” The IceFyre is versatile in its process optimization and repetition rates, as well as pulse-on-demand triggering. It combines the power supply and laser head into a single, compact unit.

In the official news release, Spectra-Physics states that Icefyre is designed for precise manufacturing of sapphire, glass, ceramic, metals, plastics, and other materials. The Icefyre made its debut at the 2017 SPIE Photonics West.

Image: Spectra Physics

We are committed to sharing the latest news about our esteemed and innovative Corporate Members. To learn more about becoming a Laser Institute of America Corporate or Individual Member, click here.

 The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the international society for laser applications and safety. Our mission is to foster lasers, laser applications, and laser safety worldwide. Read about LIA or contact us for more information.

How a Laser-Wielding Robot Will Help Fight Forgetfulness

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What’s all the hype about Watchbot? 

If you’re like me, perhaps you jot everything down in a pocket-sized notebook. Maybe you are the type to fill your phone with alarms and reminders. You may even have a calendar on your desk, filled with important dates and events.

Whatever your method is, there is no shortage in ways people have attempted to overcome forgetfulness. It may seem like the premise of a sci-fi comedy, but researchers at Cornell and Stanford Universities have developed a new way to keep your habits and routines in check. That method? A laser-equipped robot made from some surprisingly simple materials.

The robot (known as WatchBot) is designed to help keep daily routines in check by pointing out forgotten steps with a small, low powered laser. This calls attention to the missed step in a minimally invasive, yet noticeable manner.

Image: Watch-Bot Project

Watchbot made its debut at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation earlier this year. Crafted using a Kinect sensor, a tripod-mounted camera, a laptop, and a laser pointer, the robot is designed to silently observe routines. While observing, Watchbot learns the routine, everyday actions. When those patterns are broken, WatchBot points in the direction of the missed step.

Initial tests placed WatchBot in environments like kitchens and offices, observing routine, step-by-step based tasks, like cooking. If someone failed to put something away, such as a carton of milk, after pouring a glass, WatchBot would focus its laser on the carton until the action was corrected.

In the study, the researchers noted WatchBot’s potential for use in assisted living scenarios, rather than simply treating it like a futuristic personal assistant. Some speculate that WatchBot or similar mechanisms can be used to help those with degenerative diseases and conditions like Alzheimer’s, allowing patients higher levels of independence.

WatchBot is also a potential candidate for applications in the workplace, where skipped routines can lead to dangerous mistakes. A non-invasive monitor of safety might prove to be beneficial in manufacturing and other industries, where accidents and missed steps can lead to critical accidents and injuries.

For more on WatchBot, check out the original story here. Stay tuned to the Lasers Today blog for the latest WatchBot updates. 

Divider: The Laser-Powered Drum Machine

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The rise of electronic music in recent years has propelled the drum machine into the public eye more prominently than ever before. With electronic music showing very little indication of going away anytime soon, expect to see intriguing experiments and projects combining music and technology.

Such is the case with “Divider,” a large laser-powered drum machine installation, says Engadget, created by Russian artist Vtol. The machine, described by Vtol as “an autonomous light-music installation,” serves as a collaborative project between Polytechnic Museum Moscow and Ars Electronica Lins.

Would you travel to see the Laser Powered Drum Machine if you were in Russia?

The machine works by utilizing seven red lasers, 42 fans, a mono sound system, and four Arduino controllers. Divider’s laser beams are disrupted by fans with a photo sensor on the end, which monitors the presence or absence of laser light. The lasers serve as “independent binary variables,” creating the basis from which all of Divider’s sounds originate. The speed of the multiple fans helps to create the range of sounds, due to the modulation of the laser’s light.

The Inspiration for Divider

Divider was inspired by Rhythmicon, often considered the first electronic drum machine, invented by Léon Theremin in 1931. Rhythmicon used spinning disks and optical sensors to create its unique sounds. Drawing parallels between Vtol’s 21st-century Divider and Theremin’s Rhythmicon is far from a challenge.

Unfortunately, if you want to see Divider up close and personal, you’ll have to head to Russia to see it on display at Polytechnic Museum Moscow. Currently, there are no plans to tour or sell the device once it is no longer on display.

You can check out the Divider in action below:

Explore even more technology with our article on the Star Trek Replicator, part of our Science Fiction or Science Fact? Series. 

Building a Laser Harp

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One part musical interface, another part lighting display, all sorts of awesome. The laser harp is a device that projects laser beams that, once blocked by a musician —or crafty engineer, produce sounds similar to that of a harp or lyre. A number of popular musicians have utilized the laser harp in their live performances, such as Jean Michel Jarre and Little Boots. The devices have also made appearances in numerous art installations worldwide.

Creating rudimentary laser harps are an attractive project for hobbyists with an engineering background. It is far from a Pinterest weekend D.I.Y tutorial, but not out of the realm for those with some time and about $100 bucks to spare.

This Instructibles post utilizes a Arduino Uno board, which is commonly used for entry level electronics and coding work, as the base for a simple laser harp. Using materials that can be found on Amazon or at your local electronics store, a little bit of electronics and optics know-how, and some light coding, you too can make your very own laser harp.

The laser harp vaguely resembles a string instrument, with multiple, straight beams lining the device. The laser harp utilizes multiple photodiodes or photoresistors on either end of the device’s frame. These are how a “break” in the laser is detected, when the harp is “played”. Like in the above tutorial, these laser harps require a very low powered beam, such as the one found in a standard handheld laser pointer. When the emitted beam is “broken,” or in other words, played, a sound is emitted using a MIDI controller that switches on and off, based on the consistency of the beam. Think of an improperly wired light switch, turn it off and the light comes on. Turn it on, and you’re left in the dark. The absence of laser beam contact triggers the device to startup. In the case of a laser harp, the interruption emits sound.

Of course, laser harps developed for performances and instillation art require more than a handful of steps to develop, and pose many more potential safety hazards than the D.I.Y versions. The laser harps used by professionals are higher powered requiring a higher knowledge of laser safety in application.  The video below gives a brief rundown and demonstration of a D.I.Y laser harp, which can be held in sharp contrast to the professional performance video above.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-5Y5iWkt6g

 

 

 

 

Mildred Dresselhaus and Magneto-Optics

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Mildred Dresselhaus has proved herself to be a triple-threat since her entrance into the world of science. While being a physicist who has studied within the fields of material science and electrical engineering, she is most popular for her dedicated promotions for women within all science and engineering fields as well as for her own studies within the field of magneto-optics. These studies have since led the professional world into dubbing her as “the queen of carbon” science. Dr. Dresselhaus is currently an Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT.

Growing up during the Great Depression in the Bronx, NY, Dr. Dresselhaus found the niche of her early years in music. She used music as an outlet to express her innate creative abilities and her love for sound eventually led her to enroll in the Hunter College High School (HCHS) for girls at age 13 where she was able to stray from the echelon of middle class America while in search of a more desired education. After graduating from HCHS she attended Hunter College where she became the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University for one year, from 1951-1952. In 1953, Dr. Dresselhaus received her master’s degree from Radcliffe College and then her PhD from the University of Chicago five years later.

Her MIT career began at the Lincoln Laboratory where she became a present staff member and it was during this team when she switched her research focus from superconductivity to magneto-optics. Studies within magneto-optics led Dr. Dresselhaus towards a better and more knowledgeable understanding of the electronic structure of semi-metals through laser experiments performed on carbon.

Along with Ali Javan, Dr. Dresselhaus and their joint student, Paul Schroeder, used a helium-neon laser that emitted circularly polarized light in order to create an updated model for graphite’s electronic structural make up in. These studies were carried out in 1968 and eventually became the forefront of a light scattering technique known as Raman Spectroscopy.

In 1973, Dr. Dresselhaus was the recipient of a Carnegie Foundation grant which enabled her to further promote the participation and incorporation of women in male dominated fields, such as science and engineering. That same year she was also appointed to the Abby Rockefeller Mauze chair in support of women in related STEM fields. Two years after becoming a visiting professor of physics at MIT in 1983, Dr. Dresselhaus accepted the role institute professor thus labeling her as the first female institute professor at MIT.

More recent awards and honors accepted by Dr. Dresselhaus include the 2012 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, the 2013 Arthur R. Von Hippel Award presented by the Material Research Society, the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom presented at the White House by President Obama, and the 2015 IEEE Medal of Honor.

Today, Dr. Dresselhaus is credited as being a historical figure whose studies have led to major breakthroughs in modern electronic technology. She even continues to inspire other women to pursue studies within various science and engineering careers, including physics, through her encouraging words, gracious smile, and kind demeanor.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T932NSNSRSE