For those of you having problems finding a decent camera that actually covers the area and is in focus and gives a sharp image (I’ve tried 6 different ones in the past and gave up) I have found this:
It is a document scanner works on upto A3 documents, books and magazines, has a 14MP camera but the best bit is it’s design, you can just shand it at the top/bottom of the laser, that’s it, not faffing with ties, clamps, clips, focusing etc…
Plus after buying a camera for your laser cutter you also get a free document scanner
Note that any relative movement between the camera and the platform will wreck the calibration, which is why folks devote so much attention to “faffing with ties, clamps, clips, focusing etc” in order to get good results.
IMO a flexible stand that’s not anchored to the platform will not work well in the long run.
That is why I made up a 3 sided frame (the laser frame being the 4th side) that is fixed to my worksurface that keeps it the correct place yet still alows me to remove it for document scanning. I used 5mm square wood, when I get some more 3mm black acrylic I’ll cut out a one piece frame.
The scanner looks like it has a pair of hinges, so it may need gimmicks to hold those in fixed positions, too. Changes on the order of a millimeter are too much, so pay attention to the details.
I generally fire a test pulse to verify the actual position matches the camera mapping and, for my CO₂ laser, the red dot position. Most of the time it’s fine, but every now and then something falls off the rails.
