Giving a gift that has a personal message engraved on it makes it that much more special, and maybe that piece of chocolate will deliver more than a smile. Mr. Beam cuts and engraves materials when creativity strikes adding personal touches to items right at home.
Mr. Beam is a buildable DIY kit that uses a diode laser to cut materials or engrave objects with custom creative designs. The platform uses a Raspberry Pi interface supplying an Arduino Uno controller connected to a proprietary Mr. Beam Shield unit to drive the motors in precise movement. The base laser on the system is a 200mW red diode laser upgradable to a 1000mW blue diode laser, meaning safety is not an option; the kit including glasses for safe operation. Once the system is assembled and plugged into a home router system, using Mr. Beam is as easy as accessing a web interface, choosing a design and something to cut or engrave and hitting the start button.
Mr. Beam kits come in two sizes, a junior and senior; the smaller size able to work in an area of a typical sheet of paper with the larger offering four times the area. The legs on the system are adjustable giving users the option to cut or engrave larger objects made of several materials, the only limitations being glass and metal. All of the hardware specifications and software will be open-sourced once their Kickstarter project is funded; you can grab a junior for just 550 bucks, the senior will run you 700.
Check it out: Mr. Beam