Laser Ball

Step 9 Assembly

Overview:
The assembly process is very straightforward and succinctly demonstrated in the video. The following steps basically walk-through the process shown in the video. I've also included some helpful hints at the bottom of this section which highlight some of the challenging areas.

Assembly instructions:

1. Download and install Teensyduino software (link)
2. Download Laser Ball source code and upload to Teensy (link)
3. Charge Polymer Lithium-ion battery
4. Disassemble laser modules
5. Three-hole-punch diffraction-grating (~6.3mm dia.)
6. Insert diffraction-grating pieces into laser module caps and reassemble
7. Mark laser holes in tennis ball with masking tape guide lines and marker (14 laser holes)
8. Dremel laser holes into tennis ball (~8mm dia.)
9. Clean tennis ball (not shown in the video)
10. Mark and cut main opening (~2.5 in)
11. Insert battery
12. Thread lasers and label their position (but don't press them in yet)
13. Cut IR receiver hole (~5 x 7 mm) (not shown in the video)
14. Solder wire leads to IR receiver
15. Thread IR receiver
16. Solder lasers to Teensy 
17. Solder IR sensor to Teensy
18. Solder JST connector to Teensy (+5V and GND)
19. Wiggle Teensy into tennis ball
20. Focus the lasers by adjusting the screw cap (not shown in the video)
21. Press lasers into laser holes
22. Connect Teensy JST with battery JST to turn on the Laser Ball
23. Wiggle JST connector into tennis ball
24. Use remote to change Laser Ball patterns
25. Impress your friends!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Helpful hints:

• The three-hole punch will get jammed on the diffraction grating frame so cut out the diffraction grating from the frame before three-hole punching.
• The diffraction grating sits between the lens and the cap not the lens and the spring.
• The Dremel tool is probably not the ideal way to cut the tennis ball. The rubber will tend to melt if the grinding cone is spun to fast. The tape will help prevent this and avoid gooey tennis ball from splattering all over the place.
• It's helpful to mark the hole locations with marker and the laser leads (with tape and marker) in order to try and cut off as much wire as possible and to figure out how you want to split them onto the Teensy.
• Split the laser positions into hemispheres in order to solder them intelligently and avoid wire blockages.
• Split the laser ground leads onto two busses to avoid a big solder blob.
• Solder the V+ leads of the lasers to any of the Teensy I/O pins. The pins can then be 'activated' in software. I soldered the fourteen lasers to pin#'s 4,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,21,22,23).
• Solder the IR receiver to one of the interrupt pins on the Teensy (pin 5,6,7,8) to use an interrupt to detect the IR remote rather than just continuously polling the receiver.
• The recommend making the main opening slightly larger than your battery width to give more room for squeezing-in wires.
• Put the battery in first! It will be extremely difficult to get it in there if the laser wires are in the way.
• Don't press the lasers all the way in before inserting the Teensy. You will probably break a lead
• I used some hotglue, rather than heatshrink/tape, to isolate the solder connections on the lasers and IR receiver and to strengthen the solder joints
• There's really no easy way to get the Teensy and leads into the tennis ball. Take your time and try to avoid putting to much stress on the components.
• Make sure to insert the Teensy with the USB port near the opening in case you want to reprogram it later.
• I used JST connectors as a physical switch but there's probably a way to make this more compact.
• Turn on the laser ball while trying to press in the lasers to see if you break any leads. That way you can fix it before you're stuck with a laser ball with a broken laser.
• Focus the lasers before pressing them in. The lens must be positioned using the screw cap/spring. I used a bit of hotglue to hold the cap in place after focusing.
• There's probably a nice way to seal the main opening but I've basically left it as a seam in order to gain access to the guts in the future
• I'm not sure what the best way is to reprogram the Teensy after its been inserted. Accessing the USB port is fine but pressing the reset switch is not.
• Test the Laser Ball after soldering but before inserting the Teensy and lasers. The earlier you catch any dead lasers the better.
• To recharge the battery: remove the JST connectors from the tennis ball, disconnect the battery from the Teensy JST and plug into the Li-Ion charger JST. Then plug the Li-Ion charger into a USB port/charger with the appropriate USB cable.

Comments

[wired365]

I just found this project and have been working on it for a week now off and on. I am having an issue with getting the lasers to turn on. I have soldered everything to what I think is correct and I charged the battery. When I have the Teensy attached to the computer I get no errors when uploading the code but there is no blink or anything from the ball itself.

I double checked that the Teensy reset and that my Arduino software is set to Teensy 2.0. I have no idea as to why the lasers will not light at all. Please help.

[LeoneLabs]

That is strange as another user is reporting similar symptoms. Have you tried running the "Blink" example for the Teensy. If you can get that bit of code to work than that's a good sign everything is being uploaded correctly. When I first started working with the Teensy I had some initial trouble telling if the code was being uploaded correctly... using the "Teensy loader" and RST button can create some confusion.

[wired365]

Sorry about such a late response I have been busy starting another term. I did upload just the blink sample from the arduino site and the code uploads and runs perfectly. This also means that my wiring is correct, at least for the lasers, because the light is blinking. Thank you for the response by the way it was helpful.
I am not sure what to do when uploading the laser ball code, because the ball is till unresponsive after uploading. Do you happen to have an updated sample of the code or the most recent working version that you could send me or post a link to?

[LeoneLabs]

This is the latest Laser Ball code I've developed.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43787305/LeoneLabs_Laser_Ball_source_v1_3.zip

It corrects some minor errors in the other version and makes it a bit easier to make custom patterns.

Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

[charlesbayley]

Does the position of the laser in the ball along with firing order make any difference in the visual effect?

[LeoneLabs]

I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but let me try and answer anyway. The lasers are programmable, meaning the order in which they are "fired" can be changed with a few lines of code in software. This means you can make your own animations and sequences to create a wide variety of visual effects!

[charlesbayley]

My question was based on the code you supplied since my first goal is to get it together and operating. Changing the code is down the road aways. But based on your answer I won't worry about the placement of the lasers. I am only waiting for the remote and ir sensor. Thanks

[buscador]

Hello,
I have seen the photo of your laser ball, and you comment to me that it works well, him pediria that if you could order me the electrical scheme of connections, and you indicate me where to obtain the code and with that he programmes to programme the plate teensy. You great agradeceria.
A greeting.

[expertnoobz]

Im having troubles uploading the code to the teensy. i get a notification when i try to upload that says "'IRrecv' does not name a type" and then the code IRrecv irrecv(RECV_PIN); is highlighted. i know next to nothing about codes for the teensy, and would greatly appreciate your help, as a really want to make this amazing project!
thanks!

[LeoneLabs]

You may also be missing the IR remote library the code uses to read the IR signals. I see I didn't put a reference in the Instructable (but its commented in the code) but here it is... Ken Shirriffs IR remote library . It needs to be unpacked in the Arduino Libraries folder. Follow the tutorial to get it up and running. 

I'll add this to the soon-to-be update... 

PS - thanks for helping wunder-bar

[expertnoobz]

Thanks, i got it to upload now! but i just soldered all the wires on, and i have checked many times to make sure they are correct, but when i plug it into the battery, the lasers don't light up! please help, i'd hate all the money i put into this to go to waste!

[osprey-npt]

I think I'm having the same problem.... I need step by step instructions with the programming parts! There are so many things that can be missed or go wrong. I saw a note to change something for Arduino 1.0 on Ken's page, for example. I'm getting 2 errors when I try to upload the IRemote code. Something about a loop and main.....

so, if the lasers don't light up is that mainly because the program is not on the Teensy? will they only light up at all if the programming is perfect?

It's 2 things to upload to the teensy, right? Source Code and Remote codes???

I got the hex files to upload to the teensy to do fast or slow blink. Does that mean I did something right??

Please help. I'm making this for a friend who is using it in a high school play in less than 2 weeks!

Thanks in advance,
Bill

[expertnoobz]

if your still getting errors before uploading it it, you probably haven't changed the board under tools to teensy 2.0. also, be sure you have downloaded and unpacked the remote library from ken into the the library folder of the arduino software. this is wear i had to find and download an older version of the library, for some reason the new one wasn't compatable.

[LeoneLabs]

@expernoobz - Thanks for helping!

@osprey-npt - the programming can be tricky at first but I'm sure you'll get it with a bit of tinkering. If you've got the "Blink" program examples working then that's a good first step. As expertnoobz pointed out there may be some compatible issues with Ken's IR library and the latest version of the Arduino but it should be manageable. It might also be helpful to run through Ken's IR examples to make sure everything is connected up correctly.

Just for posterity, when you click "upload" all the tabs in the Arduino sketch are transferred to the Teensy, but the "remote codes" are there just for your programming reference in case you want to add some functionality.

Good luck!

[wunder-bar]

Ah, yes. That was something that took me a bit of digging to do and totally forgot about. I believe you mentioned it in the IR part of the Instructable but not in the assembly.

I have some programming experience from collage and have always wanted to get into the hardware side of things. I never really found a project that really spiked my interest, but the Laser Ball sent it above and beyond! I'll help in any way I can. I love this Instructable and can't wait to post a pic of the final product!

[wunder-bar]

I had this same problem. You need to set the Arduino software to Teensy by going to "Tools" and then select the Teensy 2.0. That should fix your problem!

[Nemo222]

I modified the code to use a button instead of the remote, this cut a significant chunk of cost out of the project, right now the speed is hard coded, and the button cycles through the 4 patterns. I am debating adding a second button to cycle through different speeds.

I made 4 as Christmas presents for all my friends.

[Jacat]

Nice video.

I would like to build the Laser Ball and have been collecting the hardware for a couple weeks now. But, I’m having problems with the software:

I have the latest Arduino 1.0 software, downloaded and installed the Teensyduino software, Ken Shirriff’s IRremote library, and the Laser Ball source code. However, I am not able to compile (check) the Laser Ball source code. I get tons of compile errors…

Please help me. What part of the puzzle am I missing?

(Also, I ordered the Red Lasers as recommended from DealExtreme. Note that these laser modules do not have an adjustable (removable) lens. It was very difficult to glue the Diffraction Grating to the front of these lenses.)

Thanks for your Instructable.

[ismash]

They are able to be removed they are just screwed with some kind of glue or loctite in the thread.
Using two sets of pliers, gripping very tightly to avoid shredding the modules I was able to get them unscrewed. Some are tighter than others.
Not sure about your code sorry. Maybe some examples of the errors?

[Jacat]

Thank you very much for your response. I just completed the Laser Ball an hour ago.

Although it is a little fragile, I glued the Diffraction Grating to the front of the lenses. I wasn’t as adventurous as you and did not attempt to unscrew the lens. Perhaps next time.

Also, the compile issue was resolved. I needed the IRremote library from Teensyduino installed. The project is very interesting! I have made changes to the timing portion of the code, and added two more lasers.

Thanks again for your kind response.

[LeoneLabs]

The "safety" issue relates to the optical power of the lasers and the spread of the beam. At 5mW these lasers do not pose a significant risk of eye damage and the diffraction gratings in front of the lens actually spread the 5mW across much larger angles, lowing the power density even further. The Wikipedia links under the "Laser" section is a good place to get started on learning about laser safety.

[kelvinmead]

ok, great instructions, but i still have managed to get lost.

the +ves of the lasers go to the teensy, but where to all the -ves go? ground?

"Solder the IR receiver to one of the interrupt pins on the Teensy (pin 5,6,7,8) to use an interrupt to detect the IR remote rather than just continuously polling the receiver".

i assume pin 5, as 6, 7 and 8 are taken up with lasers... is this how it is set up in the code?

also, which pin goes to the teensy and where do the other pins go?

thanks!

[LeoneLabs]

All the GND (-ves) connections of the lasers are tied together and joined with the GND of the Teensy and the Battery.

Pin 5,6,7,8 are special because they include interrupt functionality, meaning if they receive a signal, that input can be recognized regardless of the state of the animation loop. The lasers can be connected to any of the Teensy I/O pins, the pins are then called out in the code as outputs. If you connected the IR receiver to pin 5, then that pin would specified as an input rather than an output.

This is fairly common question, especially since I left out a wiring diagram (and I call myself an engineer!...), I'll update the Instructable soon to include this useful graphic.

Thanks for the feedback!

[wunder-bar]

I am going to rig up the whole setup using a breadboard to test everything out (using LEDs as the lasers have not arrived from China yet), but a wiring diagram would be super useful! Please update asap

[wunder-bar]

This is my first time messing with an Arduino, or similar device, and so far it is a learning experience. I thank you for providing such an interesting project that would encourage self education. I am still waiting on the lasers to get here but as soon as they do, I will be working full steam ahead to completing this project!

[LeoneLabs]

I think this is a great project to get started on a lot of fun topics... Arduino, lasers, li-ion batteries, IR remote control and solder/assembly! Good luck!

[waynesl]

Brilliant, Leone. The amount of time, care and pure genius you put into this is astounding. Without gilding the lily, I believe you could seal the lasers into the skin with ProSeal from PRC-DeSoto: http://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-proseal.php I'd recommend either PR1750 or PR1770: http://www.bergdahl.com/PR-1770.htm and the same material or another PRC-DeSoto product: http://www.bergdahl.com/PR-1460Q.htm for the solder joints, since even industrial hot glue is generally not as good.
Again, I stand in awe of your work. You do credit to the entire ilk of hackers.

[LeoneLabs]

Thanks for the links! I'll be continuing to improve the design and welcome any suggestions. I think this a great project for collaboration.

[tigr87]

this is awesome i am really thinking about making it.i was wondering if on step 9 you could take a couple pictures going towards you and closer so your hands aren't in front of the parts you are soldering.