Let's go creative with lighting on a DIY laser device
Last year MediaInteractiveDesign and PlayModes , two interactive design and creative technology studios based in Catalonia, collaborated to develop a system to control DIY Laser robot.
They created a new shield to control Dinamyxel servomotors to work with PWM laser drivers. The shield works using Arduino Ethernet programmed with a specific firmware to control laser and motor using Open Sound Control.
The project involved a team of 3 people (Eloi Maduell, Alex Posada and Santi Vilanova) coming from the field of audiovisual creativity, hardware engineering and software development.
To show us the way this system can be used, they sent us two of their projects. Enjoy!
RADIAL
Radial is a fully immersive audiovisual experience driven by cutting edge DIY technologies. Composed by a set of 8 moving blue laser heads and a kinetic light sculpture, it drives the audience into an abstract synaesthesic trip.
While laying down on the center of the installation, you let yourself be surrounded of synchronized three dimensional light compositions, multichannel sound and the intricate moving color patterns of the Particle.
Here’s the technical schematic of Radial, some pics, and below the video:
BLAUS
Blaus is an immersive space where light and sound relate intimately to impact on the visitor. It can be a cube or a blossoming flower, a grid or a jellyfish; a mutant entity of reflecting lights which submerge the audience into a symbolical universe, driven by hidden forces of the architecture. Movement and reflections of light, sound and laser beams generates a kinetic atmosphere that transforms the architecture into the main character of a geometric play.
And here you can see some pics and the video about how they made it:
Last but not least for the implementation of the system they used and want to thank:
- Savage Electronic Dinamyxel library
- ZOSC library for Arduino
- Duration Open Source software by James George, to control independently, compose, and play a full score for the laser diodes, servomotors, lights and music.