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DMD Mirrors Stuck

Sam Nerenberg
Prodigy 100 points

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing to see if any similar questions had been answered but I couldn't find anything. I've been using the Lightcrafter 3000 without the light engine as a hologram for a 660nm laser beam. Everything was working fine yesterday but today when I plugged the device in and connected many of the mirrors were set to random positions and were unresponsive. The splash screen comes up but with a fuzzy back ground due to the frozen mirrors. When I upload a pattern sequence and observe the image a few of the mirrors respond but still, many are set to a random orientation which does not change. Is there any way to reset the mirror positions? 

Thanks,

Sam

  • 0
    TI__Guru 54320 points

    Hello Sam,

    Sorry for the delay getting to your question. 

    I assume that you have rebooted the unit several times.  How are you driving the patterns that you are attempting to use?

    Also, could you describe a little more about the illumination pattern of the laser on the DMD and the power level?

    The odd part is that it worked fine one day and not the next.  The behavior you describe could indicate that somehow the epoxy seal around the window has been breached somehow.

    Fizix

  • 0 in reply to Fizix
    Prodigy 100 points

    Hi Fizix,

    Thanks for the response. I have rebooted the unit multiple times. I am uploading the patterns through the GUI so I dont think there should be too much of an issue there. The Illumination pattern is a Gaussian beam of about a centimeter diameter with no more than 50 mW total power.

    One of my suspicions is that there is some sort of memory error which is preventing some of the mirrors from resetting. I am in the process of updating the firmware via an SD card but the light next to the DM365 does not turn green which makes me think that bad firmware may be the culprit. Electronics are not my specialty, however, so I'm flying a little blind here. Does any of that help?

    Update: After waiting for a while for the firmware to update (it didn't work still) I restarted the device, then powered it down and found that the splash screen was still being displayed. This seems like its definitely a memory problem. Should I be using a different version of the firmware?

    Sam

  • 0 in reply to Sam Nerenberg
    TI__Guru 54320 points

    Sam,

    I agree with you regarding the laser power density and operation. 

    The information is useful, but I am not as familiar with this unit. I was ruling out laser issues first.  I will bring this thread to the attention of the Lightcrafter folks..

    Fizix

  • 0
    TI__Genius 13235 points
    Hi Sam,

    Are you still able to connect to the LightCrafter with the GUI? I've listed the latest FW and software versions that you should be using below. I would also suggest making sure the DMD board is properly seated in the socket.

    DM365: 5.0
    FPGA 2.6.43
    MSP430: 3.0
    GUI: 5.0.0 (listed in GUI title bar)

    Thanks,
    Clinton
  • 0 in reply to Clinton Rodgers
    Prodigy 100 points

    After trying to install the DM365 firmware into the NAND (the light by the DM365 never turned green) I can no longer connect to the device. However, when I turn it on the splash screen comes up perfectly with no random pixels and then after maybe 3-5 seconds reverts to the random pixels. I've checked all connections. Is this an issue of firmware compatibility? Could I try to boot from an SD card with an earlier version of the firmware?

    Also note: I am using a Keynote Photonics driver board. I assume it should be identical.

    Update: Ordered different SD card to boot from on eBay (SanDisk 2GB microSD). I think part of the problem is that mine is not compatible.