Lasers Plus MEMS Mirrors Deliver Programmable Projections
Check out our Sensors Converge 2023 coverage.
Mirrorcle Technologies’ Veljko Milanovic and Microchip's Donald Humbert talk about how lasers, MEMS mirrors, and programmable laser-beam steering pertain to robotics. Mirrorcle’s MEMS mirror module can provide programmable illumination for applications such as vector graphics laser projection (Fig. 1).
I included an image of the projection demo (Fig. 2), but you need to watch the video to actually see it because of the vector nature of the presentation. The laser is used to draw an image, so only a fraction of the image is available at a time, such as the first letters of a word. Our eyes capture and we remember what has been projected. Therefore, we actually see the entire image that's repeated in the same fashion as rasterized displays.
The advantage of using rasterized images generated by lasers and MEMS mirrors is lower power. Microchip’s participation involves the hardware that controls the mirrors and lasers.
The MEMS mirrors are supported on four sides and “connected to bi-axial linkages that provide two-axis movement.” The modules can also be integrated into optical subsystems.
Check out more of our Sensors Converge 2023 coverage.
