Patent ID: 7750266

Claim:
A method for laser peening a surface of a work piece, comprising: generating first and second laser pulses with a laser system having a fixed position relative to a first optic in a set of optics, and wherein the first optic is controllable to direct laser pulses in an adjustable direction without intervening optics to a second optic in the set of optics, the second optic having a position movable in three dimensions relative to the first optic defining a segment in beam paths through the set of optics having an adjustable length and an adjustable direction, and controllable to direct laser pulses received via the first optic to another optic in the set of optics; positioning the set of optics to configure a first beam path for propagating laser pulse energy to a first target location on the surface of a work piece; applying the first laser pulse to the first beam path to peen the first target location on the surface of the work piece; after applying the first laser pulse, positioning the set of optics to configure a second beam path for propagating laser pulse energy to a second target location on the surface of a work piece, the second beam path being different than the first beam path, wherein the segment from the first optic to the second optic has a different length and a different direction in the second beam path than in the first beam path; and applying the second laser pulse to the second beam path to peen the second target location on the surface of the work piece; wherein the first and second beam paths include respective segments from the first optic to the second optic having adjustable length of about one meter or more through air.