Printable Laser Turret

thingiverse

In ancient years of Yor, before the TSA and the FAA got twitchy about lasers and aircraft (Early 2000s), I had a Burning Man Project which had a GameBoy Advance controlling a Laser Turret to point out stars, planets, and satellites. I decided to see if I could 3D print a more modern Altitude-Azimuth turret. Turns out, I can. Disclaimer: POINTING LASERS IN THE AIR NOWADAYS CAN GET YOU ARRESTED. DON'T DO IT. I only post this design because I like being able to say that I've designed and built a Laser Turret. This turret should be useful as a base design for making non-laser things that need an Alt-Az turret. Maybe useful for mounting a security camera. Not useful for astro-photography, though, due to low angular resolution. Instructions The Google SketchUp file shows the relative positions of the parts and how it assembles. I used a RAMPS controller to run the motors. I have a hacked and buggy firmware that could rough-calibrate the turret using a compass and accelerometers, but it's so buggy it's not really useful. This design is posted as-is for entertainment purposes. I'm not maintaining this.