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Documents Ben Heck’s Intel Edison Laser Harp Part 1: Design Episode -- Episode 253
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  • Author Author: pchan
  • Date Created: 1 Sep 2016 8:23 PM Date Created
  • Last Updated Last Updated: 26 Aug 2016 7:24 AM
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Ben Heck’s Intel Edison Laser Harp Part 1: Design Episode -- Episode 253

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Ben works on a Laser Harp using lasers and a photoresistor while Felix sets up the intel Edison with VST: virtual studio technology MIDI music driver to play music on it. How would you use technology to discover a new way for the world to enjoy music? Let us know in the comments below!

Episode 254: Ben Heck’s Intel Edison Laser Harp Part 2: Assembly

 

Inspired by Music Tech Fest in Berlin, Ben and Felix create a Laser Harp using an Intel Edison single board computer and VST: virtual studio technology. The Intel Edison is a single board computer from Intel that includes a dual core atom processor x86 with built in RAM, Flash, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Ben does tests for the laser harp using a breadboard, a bench power supply and an individual laser pointer element.  The laser element has a current limiting resistor built in so he just attaches a voltage rail.  The photoresistor is analog, the more light you give it or take from it, there will be a different rating however if that voltage level goes past a certain amount in an integrated circuit it will either go high or low which will allow them to use it as a digital switch. He uses a photoresistor because it works well with individual light.

 

After he gets a laser he hooks it up to NOT logic gate. The NOT gate has a voltage at which it will switch from 0 to 1. Knowing this value allows them to dial in their photoresistor circuit. The input and output are at different voltages allowing a 5V signal to be converted to a 1.8 V signal.  Felix lays out everything on a protoboard and sets up a VST MIDI music driver on the Edison to allow it to play music. He takes the GPIO signal and maps it to a virtual MIDI device. He reconfigures the kernel and adds the virtual MIDI device to enable it. 12 notes per octave, chromatic scale (includes sharps and flats). The different lengths of harp strings create different notes. The top of the harp has 24 lasers for 24 notes which is two octaves. Ben builds the top half of the harp with all the emitters and lines them up.

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Top Comments

  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 8 years ago +1
    Not sure that "The Intel Edison is a new single board computer from Intel" statement is quite true here ? The Intel Edison was released toward the end of 2014 http://www.intel.com/buy/us/en/product/emergingtechnologies…
  • tariq.ahmad
    tariq.ahmad over 8 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

    Thanks beacon_dave !  I edited the doc.

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  • atillad
    atillad over 8 years ago

    you could always use visable green lasers and a defuser on the bottom too read the laser

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  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 8 years ago

    Not sure that "The Intel Edison is a new single board computer from Intel" statement is quite true here ?

     

    The Intel Edison was released toward the end of 2014

    http://www.intel.com/buy/us/en/product/emergingtechnologies/intel-edison-compute-module-iot-463633

    shortly after the release of the Intel Galileo Gen 2 which was the other SoC board Intel were aiming at the IoT market.

     

    Have Intel released a newer version of it ?

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  • frezik
    frezik over 8 years ago

    One alternative way to go with this is to use a red LED as a detector, which would trigger a transistor. Not sure if that would be easier/cheaper/fewer parts than the photoresistor with an inverter, though. I'd guess that it would work out the same.

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