Head-Mounted Camera Alignment

Warning

This feature is still in beta, and your results may vary. Report any issues you encounter while using this feature to [email protected].

Head-Mounted cameras are affixed to a laser's head and travel with it as it moves around its work area. After properly Calibrating and Aligning your Head-Mounted camera, LightBurn will be able to stitch together captures taken by the camera at multiple locations in the work area, producing an Overlay for your Workspace that you can use to position graphics over material.

Selecting Camera Position

To begin the alignment process, go to Laser Tools → Calibrate Camera Alignment or right-click in the Camera Control window and select Calibrate Camera Alignment from the context menu.

Select the option on the right side: Camera is mounted to the laser head, and moves with the laser.

Head-Mounted Camera Alignment

Preparation

• Make sure your camera is securely mounted to your laser head, with no ability to move or wiggle as the laser jogs.

• Place a piece of material into your laser that is large enough to engrave the target marker pattern onto — it must be at least 50 mm x 50 mm (roughly 2 in square). The closer it is to that minimum, the harder it will be to make sure the engraving location matches your material.

• Focus your laser to the material you're using.

• In the Camera Control Window, select same camera you used with the Lens Calibration Wizard.

• In the Laser Tools Menu, select Calibrate Camera Alignment to start the Camera Alignment Wizard. Select the option on the right side: Camera is mounted to the laser head, and moves with the laser.

Engraving the Alignment Pattern

The rest of this process will be completed within the Head-Mounted Camera Alignment Wizard, which will command your laser to engrave a pattern onto a piece of material, such as card stock, paper, cardboard, or thin wood, and ask you to tag points on the pattern.

Step 1

Place your material in the center of your laser's work area.

Step 2

From the dropdown menu, select Automated Alignment (recommended), or Manual Alignment.

Step 3

Enter appropriate Speed and Power settings to get a moderately dark engraving without burning through. This will vary based on your laser and the material you're using, so we can't provide these for you.

Step 4

Frame the pattern to make sure it's positioned on the material you're using.

If necessary, you can adjust the size of the Pattern to fit your material, but make sure it is small enough that your camera will be able to see a substantial portion of the pattern at once.

Step 5

Start the engraving. If it's not dark enough, you can adjust the settings and run it again. When the pattern is clearly visible and easy to see, click Next.

Warning

Don't move the target marker pattern after engraving it! It's vital that it maintain its exact location within the laser for the alignment process to work correctly.

Automatic Alignment

Note

Follow these instructions if you selected Automatic Alignment at the beginning of the alignment process. If you selected Manual Alignment, jump ahead to Manual Alignment.

Centering the Laser Over the Pattern

Use the Jog arrows to move the laser head, and with it the camera, until the pattern is postioned roughly in the center of the camera's field of view.

You can click Auto Center to automatically jog the camera to the predicted center of the pattern, before fine-tuning its position.

The field in the center of the arrows controls the amount of distance the laser will move with each click.

When the pattern is centered, click Next to proceed to the next step.

Scaling the Capture

Tip

You can zoom in and out by hovering over the image and using your mouse's scroll wheel.

Adjust the Scale value in the lower left of the window until the entire image is filled with "good" pixels.

• None of the black fisheye effect along the borders should be visible.
• Make sure no areas that are badly lit or blurry are visible.
• The best part of the image is typically directly in the center.

Note

Zooming in for a tight focus on the sharpest areas of the image will lead to higher quality captures, but longer scanning times when the camera captures your laser's work area.

Click Next to proceed to the next step.

Verifying Alignment

Double-click a point in the view to jog the laser there. The point you clicked should be centered in the field of view after the laser finishes jogging.

Repeat the alignment process if the position is innaccurate. If it's accurate, click Finish to save the alignment and exit the wizard.

Manual Alignment

Note

Follow these instructions if you selected Manual Alignment at the beginning of the alignment process. If you selected Automatic Alignment, head back to Automatic Alignment.

Centering the Laser Over the Pattern

Use the Jog arrows to move the laser head, and with it the camera, until the pattern is postioned roughly in the center of the camera's field of view.

The field in the center of the arrows controls the amount of distance the laser will move with each click.

When the pattern is centered, click Next to proceed to the next step.

Tagging the Pattern

Next you'll mark four locations near the center of the pattern, and finally four more around the outside of the grid.

When you double-click, a red "+" mark will appear. If you place one incorrectly, you can double-click near it to shift it around.

1. Double-click the center of the grid to place a red "+" mark there. When the marker is accurately placed, click Next.

   

2. Double-click the intersection nearest to Point 1 in the engraved pattern. Click Next when you're satisfied with the location.

   

3. Based on the location you clicked for Point 1, LightBurn will predict a new location at the next grid intersection over. If the "+" mark is not perfectly aligned to a grid intersection, double-click at the closest intersection to align it. Click Next.

   

4. Double-click the intersection nearest to Point 2 in the engraved pattern. Click Next.

   

5. Based on the location you clicked for Point 2, LightBurn will predict a new location at the next grid intersection over. If the "+" mark is not perfectly aligned to a grid intersection, double-click at the closest intersection to align it. Click Next.

   

6. LightBurn will now predict 4 intersections around the outside of the grid. If they are not perfectly positioned over an intersection, click the nearest intersection to realign them to that point. Click Next when each "+" is aligned to the nearest intersection.

   

7. Double-click a point to Jog the laser to that location — the point should be centered in the camera's field of view after it is finished jogging.

If the alignment is accurate, click Next to close and finish the process. If it's inaccurate, click Back until the beginning of the tagging process, and try tagging the points again.

Capturing an Overlay

Click Update Overlay in the Camera Control Window to command your laser to jog, pause, take a capture, and repeat, producing multiple images that LightBurn will stitch together to produce an Overlay.

• If you have an object in your selection, the laser will jog to take captures of only the area within the selected object, and produce an Overlay confined to that area in your Workspace.

• If you have nothing in your selection, the laser will jog to take captures of the entire work area and produce an Overlay that covers your entire Workspace.

Troubleshooting

• If the Overlay is misaligned, try rerunning the entire process, taking care to mark the points in the pattern as precisely as possible, and to not move the pattern at all from its original, engraved position.
• This feature is still in beta. If you encounter bugs or other unexpected behavior, please contact us at [email protected].

Related Topics

• Camera Control Window
• Calibrate Camera Alignment (Overhead)
• Calibrate Camera Lens
• Camera Selection Helper
• Camera Installation and Focusing

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For more help using LightBurn, please visit our forum to talk with LightBurn staff and users, or email support.

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