Design of a Multi-Laser System
Matthew J. Lund · Digital WPI · 2019
Balloon releases are a mainstay at celebratory events. However, balloons can travel hundreds of miles and have a tendency to end up in lakes, seas and oceans. Balloons pose a danger to aquatic life and have a significant impact on pollution levels. Clean up efforts have found tens of thousands of balloons on beaches yearly in the United States alone (Witmer, 2017). Laser light can be used to damage balloon’s membranes and prohibit them from flying into bodies of water. This project explores the usage of a system of links to to safely remove balloons from the atmosphere with lasers. Theoretically, the linkage-laser system higher ranges, but the current system is limited due to Gaussian beam and power limitations. Future work can be extended to auto-target balloons in the air.