The Open Source Burninator Explores What Two Linear Stepper Motors and Laser Diode Can Do
Mike Rankin's tiny open source project measures 1.1”x 2.3” using two linear stepper motors and a DVD burning laser diode.
A new open source Arduino project, measuring only 1.1” x 2.3", was the result of experimenting with what could be accomplished using a few tiny linear stepper motors for Mike Rankin. The result? A laser that can be moved along an axis by the linear stepper motors to burn precise patterns. Rankin himself says he has no practical purpose for the device, called the Burninator, but sometimes you create just to see what can be done.
While these small linear stepper motors lack the strength for many tasks, such as cutting material or drawing using a pen, they are able to hold a DVD burning laser diode. The first step was creating a board for the two motors and testing a good position for the limit switches. The board is designed with two ESP32 chips as drivers, a microSD card, a WiFi antenna, two user buttons, Micro USB connection, and an OLED display.
The design was initially kept spread out so it could be easily modded, but once the design was finalized and working, a new board was made with the elements placed more tightly together. In order to power the lasers, another modification was made to the board, adjusting the register on the output of a regular low-dropout regulator to create a 150-milliamp power supply to the lasers. To focus the burn height, the burning laser diode was slotted into an adjustable lens with its visible diode component removed.
The final form of the Burninator features two boards mounted at a right angle, with four screws serving as legs. The laser diode is mounted on the vertical board and can be shifted along the x-axis, while the second motor can shift a metal tray along the y-axis. This allows the laser to cut designs in two dimensions onto an object resting on the tray, as Rankin demonstrates by etching a square into a piece of paper. The OLED screen simply displays the device’s moniker and readouts of the x- and y-coordinates as the linear stepper motors operate. He hasn’t thoroughly tested what thickness it can cut through, but who knows what further tinkering can bring? Schematics of this experiment, as well as parts and test code, are all available on GitHub.