"firefly" Blue Laser Lamp - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dustout
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 07:12:18 am
content: This Kickstarter project is basically a blue laser dot projector to create some 'ambiance' for a room. I've had some bad luck with my crowd funding this far but this project is looking pretty promising to me so far. I have been getting a lot of updates on progress including pictures of actual physical things. I'm pretty optimistic that this project will pull through and it looks cool. I thought I'd share this as an example of a project that I've been impressed by in contrast to my other experiences... Anyone else kickstarting this one?

author: MacAttak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 05:15:20 pm
content: I'm a backer on this one too (was in the original ~100 or so). I have very little doubt that this one will fail to deliver. It will probably deliver on-time too (or perhaps slightly late).IMO the project creator is bat-shit crazy though. Clearly very smart guy but reading his comments and updates is something like watching a slow-motion train wreck. Good thing he enlisted his brother and wife to help him with posting updates and answering questions.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 05:40:57 pm
content: wait, is it fixed dot pattern or full blown mini X-Y laser effect?

author: TriNitroTolueen
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 06:02:32 pm
content: For the lazy readers, this is the link:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1251236349/blue-laser-lamp-with-passive-cooling-technologyIt looks kind of cool as a party light or something, but I can't see this being used as a primary light source. In the short introduction clip it still looks very dark with the "firefly" turned on and it just doesn't look pleasant as everyday lighting...

author: MacAttak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 07:32:35 pm
content: The images and videos are terrible because most video equipment cannot handle coherent laser illumination properly. The images always come out very dark.The device itself uses a diffraction grating to disperse a single beam into a grid pattern (within a forward-facing cone).The basic concept is that the individual diffracted beams do not illuminate the location of the device itself... but when they reach a distant surface (like the wall or ceiling), they reflect and disperse at that location - essentially producing hundreds of small point light sources that illuminate the room *from* that surface.By lighting a space in that way, you minimize shadows (a wall of point light sources is essentially a diffuse light source that casts minimal shadows). It also consumes very low amounts of power to produce equivalent amounts of illumination.The project launcher has already created the same device using a green laser (you can buy it on Amazon). The green laser uses a crystal with a low lifespan and is not a very pleasant color (strains the eyes). The blue laser is supposed to be entirely new technology, that does not use a crystal, and produces a wavelength of blue laser light that stresses the eyes much less.The lense options that add shapes (stars, hearts, etc) are just custom diffraction lenses. There is no beam control to "draw" shapes like what you would see in an entertainment laser display.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 08:13:12 pm
content: Quote from: MacAttak on May 13, 2013, 07:32:35 pmhttps://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/431/097/92e073c062cfe2b4045ce7ed2f187f5f_large.jpg?1362724541this picture was little misleading thenotherwise cool project, works like Kinects illuminator (IR laser)

author: MacAttak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 08:44:14 pm
content: That picture was a time-lapse photo of a few people making shapes with a few firefly prototypes. You can see the same person standing behind both the F and Y in "fly".I thought it was a dumb and confusing image for them to post. Again, going back to my theory about the project owner having a few screws loose.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2013, 05:50:39 am
content: It says the laser is <5mW.I find it very unlikely that those photos are realistic for a 5mW laser.The photos maybe long exposure, or the prototype laser maybe 200mW,but not 5mW and a true representation of how it will look in real life.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2013, 11:06:52 am
content: Might be good for an ambience effect but otherwise it looks too distracting; the bright blue power indicator LEDs some products like to come with are annoying enough already, imagine hundreds of them scattered everywhere!

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 18, 2013, 01:30:01 pm
content: Quote from: MacAttak on May 13, 2013, 05:15:20 pmI am a backer too, and your comments on the project creator are spot on! I think it is a neat idea but his updates are.... a bit weird. I am not sure if he is just way too enthusiastic or something, but reading the updates, you'd think this guy feels he invented time travel or something. It's just a blue laser diode w/diffraction element.The price is not too high so whatever happens, I'm happy to ride it out - but I tend to doubt it will have the performance they imply. They show a hallway lit with a 1W night light, a 4W night light, and the FireFly. The FF looks like it's 10-20x brighter than the 4W night light. My understanding is that the luminous efficacy of blue laser diodes is not very high, so I have a hard time beliving a <1W blue laser diffracted out as the FireFly does will have an apparent brightness even close to what many of the pictures show.But, it's not expensive, and it will be a neat toy, so I'm happy to be a backer.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2013, 01:05:42 am
content: The video shows that it's a spot laser with a diffraction lens (maybe), but some pictures show lighting the walls in a uniform pattern of regular dots on all six sides of a cube, but I think it can't do that.... except the picture of the hexagon makes it "look" like it can do that, because it has bumps, which might be the light outputs (holes) that create the point sources of light.. is this what it does??I am still not sure what I would get if I backed it.

author: MacAttak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 20, 2013, 02:35:06 am
content: Quote from: codeboy2k on May 19, 2013, 01:05:42 amThere is a single lens/aperture (aka, "hole"). It appears to be roughly the same size as the camera lens on a typical smartphone, possibly slightly smaller.The uniform pattern of bumps you see on the device are just part of the plastic mould - they are not additional holes. They are just there to give the device some texture and character.Yes, it is a "spot laser" with a diffraction grating (fitted into the aperture) to produce the matrix of dots. This grating disperses the single beam into a cone of beams that project the "dots". I believe that the dots near the center of the cone have slightly higher luminosity than those near the edges of the cone.The project owner stated the angular width of that cone in a comment or update - I think it was 45 degrees? I think the photo of the TV room had two Firefly units, the photo of the bedroom/hallway each have one Firefly unit.

author: ARGLaser
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2013, 06:31:21 am
content: This product is dangerous, take it from an experienced laser hobbyist. The guy says it's safe at 2 feet, but he's marketing it as a nightlight for kidsIf a kid sticks their eye in the aperture it can cause irreversible damage.This quote from another forum sums up my opinion on it.Quote from: goninanbl00d

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 03, 2013, 07:56:05 am
content: Quote from: ARGLaser on June 03, 2013, 06:31:21 amMy reading of the quotes from PhotonLexicon show that, IMO, a lot of people seem to just have a chip on their shoulder that the creator of this project got so much money. I bet there is a lot of envy in many of the comments. Not all, but many.As far as safety, it does seem like a normal diffraction grating, but the people who are saying "it's a LASER, pointing it at an aircraft is ILLEGAL" seem to be way overstating their case. If the whole thing is 5mW and if the beam is split into 1,000 beams, and the collimation of the light is such that the cross section size of one of those beams is 10 feet at 500 feet of distance, then how is it harmful to aircraft? Photons are photons, whether they come out of a laser or an LED.I backed the guy for two of these... I like lasers, and it looks like a neat device. I can't understand the characterization of backers as "idiots"... looks like a lot of success-hating to me.

author: MacAttak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 03, 2013, 05:16:12 pm
content: I agree. I have one coming too.The device itself isn't anything new - you can buy the green ones for around $40 on amazon. Yes, this is supposed to be a new and much better laser, but still... effectively the same product as far as most people would care.The "inventor" of the device seems very annoying and aloof, as does his wife (although to a lesser degree). And yes, there are some weird things going on such as the statements made about the ultimate purpose of this gadget is to eventually provide something to assist in firefighting. And since they are already making a product that can be readily obtained, I'm not entirely sure that crowd-funding was really needed in order to get the product made. I suspect it is mainly a sales tool for them.But still, the safety concerns seem unfounded. Yes, this is a laser product. No, you shouldn't hold it up to your eye. Just like you shouldn't buy your 10 year old boy that hunting slingshot from Wal-Mart as a toy to play with in an urban neighborhood. Some things are just plain common sense.Also, it has laser warnings on the box, in the instruction sheet, and permanently affixed to the device itself. Richard has been very adamant about telling us all about the details of it