How to Build a LASER TACHOMETER

[@EliteWorm]

⚠️ *SUBSCRIBE!!* More videos coming soon Watch this project: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqLbY42HmrB3aaM

[@Bompitpit]

Nice project! May I know what’s the measurement range?

[@boblewis5558]

Nice to see someone take the trouble to complete the project with a custom case and using screws and clamping NOT hot glue! VERY neat, tidy, compact and useful tool! 👍👍👍😎😎

[@EliteWorm]

Thanks, Bob! I’m so glad that some people do appreciate the extra effort 😅

[@fernsgilbert]

Thanks a billion. For the past almost 1 month I've tried about 1 dozen of other codes but got uncertain readings. Now I tried your code but with IR sensor module and the readings are far far better than the rest. I'll replace IR with laser module soon. Kudos to you!

[@EliteWorm]

I am really happy to read this! It means a lot since I always try my best. Thank you so much for sharing your positive experience 😉👍

[@nixonmewengkang1030]

Smart people always have many ways to make other people better than they were yesterday. You are so amazing 🤘🏻😎

[@daneins]

Man, what an incredible housing! Felicitaciones

[@EliteWorm]

Gracias Daniel!

[@JoeMcLutz]

Interesting project... Clean, effective and elegant realization... A joy to watch to! Congrats!

[@EliteWorm]

Thank you so much Joe! I'm glad that you like it.

[@seabeepirate]

Clean execution, well done!

[@randysonnicksen9475]

You did a really professional job, especially on the 3D printed case. I'm trying to do a similar project. I have purchase the KY-008 laser with the associated sensor board. For my project I only need the 3 pin sensor but I'm unable to identify it, and I can't seem to find any references to it on all the sites that are selling it. Do you know the Mfr and Part Number of the detector which inserts into the 3 pin socket? Thanks!!!

[@7eis]

Quality content my man. Was looking to see if anyone put a rc nitro engine on a skateboard and found your scooter video. You do videos like its been your job for years - excellent!

[@EliteWorm]

I am glad that you found me! I just try to build things as good as I can. Thank you for your comment 😉

[@shreyas7801]

I am more impressed by your 3d printed case

[@planker]

Thanks, this looks like what I was looking for. Testing an IR circuit worked ok but I have all the stuff to do Laser. I was on hold with my IR tach, I will examine the Laser set-up, so back to the bench. I also decided to go with the 1306 display, its just simple. No plastic printer here, but I have an old Laser tag pistol I can house real laser stuff and display. brackets for the Xmit and Rcver diodes are there plus a speaker and flashing LED's. Laser Tag Tachometer, I'll be fist on the block.

[@hedgehog7773]

built laser tachometer is very good. he a useful thing in the household

[@NicolauLod]

really nice 3d printed design

[@JBERGALIEN]

Just discover while searching RPM, your'e doing a superb job !

[@PrTOSHIBA]

Excellent work

[@SantaDragon]

Very cool. I like the speed how the detection switches. I bought the DT2234 but I am not dure about the results. But your test showed me, that your two gadgets meassure equally so I guess the DT2234 meassures right, too. Thanks.

[@jutkiynikita_]

For the device to work correctly, do you need to glue a reflective surface to a part of the wheel?

[@DanCrista]

Good job. Everything is there. Great tool to have. Thank you !

[@EliteWorm]

Thank you for watching! 😉

[@LifeGeneralist]

Nice product. I loved that you used laser instead of LED and fantastic 3D printed case. Can you please tell how far can we place this from the rotor to measure the speed?

[@EliteWorm]

Thanks! It's hard to say, but you must be close, maybe 10 to 15 cm maximum!

[@OspreyLanthrax]

Nice build and thanks for sharing. Could you share the exact name of the laser emitter and sensor since the links no longer seem to work?

[@amonus-air2160]

very nice! You gave us an excellent how-to and it's much appreciated. Thanks for sharing, subbed for more 😎

[@lucgyre9268]

you could have put your all sensor close to HT wires, with all the covers on. would be as precise and less dangerous

[@geoper2]

I really liked your video. Nice presentation nice music and nice project.

[@EliteWorm]

Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it 😎

[@jaljoliea]

Did u try to measure with distance up to 10->20 cm from the object ?

[@fernandorojas1241]

Your work is very good, how can you get the ttl signal from your tachometer? or another tachometer

[@EliteWorm]

What do you mean? You could get the TTL signal directly from the sensor itself

[@fernandorojas1241]

@@EliteWorm I need to obtain the 2234c tachometer signal to put it into a vibration analyzer, specifically to obtain the phase and perform a balancing job.

[@dnd6032]

I would also like to be able to get TTL output to a BNC connector. How would this be done? If possible.

[@EliteWorm]

@@dnd6032 Just use the output pin of the laser receiver

[@fredpinczuk7352]

Nice work, thanks for sharing.

[@EliteWorm]

Thanks Fred!

[@cemakar8702]

Hi I made this project for myself but is not show correct value on the screen. Actually it show just 0 rpm, and sometimes show some numbers randomly and it is not working. how i can fix it? Is the laser receiver sensor direction correct?

[@farhadfarhadi786]

Please make this circuit with PD438C laser receiver

[@ВладимирФилиппов-д1у]

Здравствуйте. Замечательный проект! Вы написали: Высота слоя: 0.2 мм. А какую толщину стенок, процент заполнения Вы выставляли? С уважением, Владимир

[@costisirb8918]

Nice project, congratulations... I built it and it works OK after flipping over the sensor... :)... however, with this orientation pin 1 and 3 should be switched. If it's mounted like at 3:54 in the movie I think the sensitive part it's not correctly oriented, the flat surface is not the active part of the sensor. (tried to add a link but the comment was deleted...). I think also the sensor in version v2 must be closer to the emitter. ;) Nice work!

[@EliteWorm]

Really good point Costi! I didn’t know that the flat surface was not the sensitive part. Noted, thank you!

[@toddroles3234]

I am building as we speak. So, what part of the sensor is active? i know it is hard to explain, but there is what I will call the Side1'top' of the sensor (directly opposite the pins), and then on the 2 larger flat sides, one side Side 2 has a round 'dot' on it, and on the other side Side3 it is 'plain'. Which of these should point forward to receive the reflection of the laser?

[@toddroles3234]

And, to follow up, if the proper side of the sensor is the part with the 'dot" (side 2), then do you literally just turn it around so the middle pin (lets call it pin 2) is still in the middle and the two other pins (1 and 3 as you mentioned) are both switched from what is shown in the video?

[@prasadshirke6326]

I can use esp32 respective to Arduino with same code. please reply ☺️

[@josegabrielcordova4079]

Incredible project, congratulations! Is there a way to store the data of the readings in the Arduino and then retrieve it for analysis (for example txt file)?

[@EliteWorm]

Thank you Jose Gabriel. Yes, but you would have to add a microSD card reader to the circuit and add that functionality to the code.

[@andrewbrown9456]

Hi, this is exactly the project I need but with a slight twist. Can I mount the emmiter and sensor apart (around 400mm)to make a light gate? I need to measure the rpm of small wind turbines (300mm diameter) in a small wind tunnel (0.25m2 c/s area). The turbines will have a differing number of blades depending on the design, so the display would be better to show Hz if possible... Estimated max rpm is around 3000, but designs will be either 3,4 or 5 blades (normally) Thanks in advance!!

[@EliteWorm]

Hi Andrew. I think you can mount the emitter and sensor like you said. You will have to tweak the code so the values are correct, but you can do it for sure.

[@aaronpadilla458]

Hi can you share the part number of emmiter and sensor? ebay link are broken

[@شرموس]

thanks alot buddy

[@Evilslayer73]

Any schematics? and how far this laser can read rotation? i mean safe use

[@gilbee29]

how slow of an rpm do you anticipate this reliably measuring?

[@SuperLeebutt]

I'm new to this hobby & think your tacho & video is great. I've order all the parts to build one as my first project. If I wanted to change the output to display Hz instead of RPM would that be possible? I wondered if I could add a '/ 60' to line 72 and change the display.print functions to Hz instead of RPM?? Sorry if I've underestimated the complexity of changing the code, I didn't know what an Arduino was until a few weeks ago. Thanks for sharing.

[@EliteWorm]

Depending on the speed you want to measure you may need to change some parts of the code since dividing by 60 will truncate the result. I should have a look at the code again and try it but I think that measuring low speeds could lead to a poor performance without modifying a couple of things. But there is nothing that can wrong. Try it!

[@atetescaxo]

Can you please tell me how many of each of the small parts are needed? Parts A and B are one each, but the small ones is not clear. Thanks!

[@aneikei]

Hi, I really enjoyed the tutorial you posted on KZbin for your laser tachometer. One question. If the laser and sensor were aligned head-on with the rotating element placed in between. What's the maximum rpm the system could accurately measure?

[@EliteWorm]

Hi! It maxes out at 99999 RPM

[@aneikei]

​@@EliteWorm hi, it's been awhile since you posted but I'm hoping you'll still be able to help me. I'm trying to build a laser tachometer much like you've built here. However I'm using a Sunfounder I2C LCD1602 for the display module and coding isn't my strong suit. As such, can you edit your code using the I2C LCD1602 module and send it to me? Of course I'd be will to pay you for your time. Thank you.

[@EmptyPocketProductions]

New sub from me. Slick work ! I'd like to build. Sadly, your ebay links are dead. Can you provide new links for the laser portion of this build. Thanks!!

[@sumantamajumdar6505]

just amazing

[@divingquokka]

Nice project! And I get to practice my Spanish too while watching the video. Question: do you have to mark a white spot om the surface of the rotating object to be measured, or will it work without?

[@EliteWorm]

Cool! You have to use some kind of reflective tape. I used a piece of aluminum foil and it worked too, but not very good. Good luck!

[@divingquokka]

@@EliteWorm Thanks! I built the circuit (no housing yet) and it works with some kitchen variety aluminium foil on my drills. Keep up the good work, you might become the next Great Scott!

[@EliteWorm]

@@divingquokka I'm glad to read that it is working! You have already done the hardest part then 👍😉

[@divingquokka]

@@EliteWorm Neh, getting it to work on a breadboard was the easy part. Soldering everything together, fitting it in the housing, that is hard. And one thing has me flummoxed. You are taking five volts from the ICSP pins. I tested all three my Nano's and all three of them only register 0.9V on the (supposedly 5V pin.

[@EliteWorm]

@@divingquokka That is weird! Check the voltages without anything connected to it but the 9V battery to the Vin pin. You can take 5V from other available pin if you don't see what's happening. It was just for proximity and convenience...

[@gerrys6265]

Hey, here's a quick video of what I did! Sorry, no information included (in small print)

[@sanjaysurve9413]

How to increase sensitivity of laser sensor receiver diod ?

[@mustafah-alrubie4909]

Hi.. What's the max rpm can it measure?

[@gasparigi]

You used some reflective tape on rotary element? You could mention it in description. What type?

[@EliteWorm]

I used the one that came with the commercial tachometer which is just a regular cheap one. I also tried it with a piece of aluminum film and worked too, but not as good though. Use whatever you want! 👍

[@3ecagerardoalbertoperez989]

incredible project although I would like to have the diagram of the circuit that you have made, I would appreciate it very much.....

[@EliteWorm]

Check the description of this video, all the info you need is there

[@GenePavlovsky]

Very cool build! I'm looking into adding a tachometer to a lathe (since I'm going to install a 3 phase motor and a VFD). I've researched the topic and it seems that two most commonly used solutions use an opto interrupter and a slotted encoder disc or a gear, or a hall effect sensor sensing a magnet (or gear teeth). There are a lot of cheap kits on eBay with a hall effect sensor, a magnet, and a 4-digit LED display. I am just wondering why no one seems to be making (or selling) a laser-based kit? Many people who do build or buy a tachometer for their lathe, do use a handheld laser tachometer to verify if it's working correctly. So why not use this tech in the first place? Or is there no benefit from the laser, when everything is permanently installed in a stationary position?P.S. Does it work well at low RPMs (e.g. some lathes can run as slow as 25 rpm)? I guess it would take a few seconds to give an accurate reading?

[@EliteWorm]

Hi Gene! To be honest I'd choose the hall sensor in that specific scenario. The reason being is that even the laser would work correctly, there is no reason to use a device (emitter diode) that has a shorter lifespan if it's going to be ON continuously. Hall sensors are very durable! This program should work with a hall sensor too. Thanks for your comment!

[@EliteWorm]

If you are going to use my program and would like to measure low speeds like 25 RPM you will have to modify a value in the code. I can help you with that. At this moment if there's no pulse detected within 2 seconds, it will show 0 RPM, so you won't be able to measure lower speeds than 30 RPM.

[@GenePavlovsky]

@@EliteWorm thanks for the info. I'm sure I can figure it out, as I'm a programmer myself (although haven't tried any Arduino yet, but intend to). With hall sensor, I think it might help to add one or more magnets, evenly spaced, to improve response at low RPMs?

[@EliteWorm]

@@GenePavlovsky Great! But be careful since my program measures the time between pulses and, at low speeds, it takes only one measurement to calculate the equivalence in RPMs. If it detects more pulses in one turn it will display a higher reading and more importantly, it won't be a steady one if the magnets are not perfectly equidistant. But again you can modify the code to solve that!

[@someblokeofftheinternet5745]

@@EliteWorm Hi, how would you do that, I'm no programmer , I thought adding four magnets (pulses) per revolution would help get around the 2 second problem, but don't know how to properly amend the code to divide the total by 4, after some trial and error I found changing "rpm_average = rpm_sum / (n_max + 1)" to "rpm_average = rpm_sum / (n_max + 4)" made look about right, but is that the correct way to do it? Thanks either way though, I know it must be annoying having noobs asking for code all the time, but I made the tachometer and that was great, I also used a small part of your stl to mount the oled in my lathe speed controller housing, that was a real time saver.

[@jordananders8525]

Can't find the laser with the PCB module anywhere. The link is broken.

[@EliteWorm]

Hi. Search for "EL0505". It seems that the vendor I brought it from isn't selling it anymore.

[@ismetcanbirinci4370]

Bro good project. I tried but it doesn't work when ı done the project.I think I missed something but I can't find. I think laser sensor couldn't catch the laser to count rpm. Have you any suggestion to solve the problem? I will use this on my final project if I can achieve.

[@EliteWorm]

I would hook up an oscilloscope and start checking the circuit first. You must determine if your problem is in the laser sensor or not... You should see a PWM signal.

[@shanakaliyanage6875]

Nice project! What's the highest rpm this can measure? I'm working on a project which requires measurements up to 130,000 rpm.

[@EliteWorm]

This one is limited to 99.999 RPM

[@shanakaliyanage6875]

@@EliteWorm thanks for the reply. May I know what limits the RPM? Is it the laser diode/sensor or some other component?

[@EliteWorm]

@@shanakaliyanage6875 No, it's just the display! It has no room for six figures unless you change the units. But it's nothing you can't change in the code!

[@shanakaliyanage6875]

@@EliteWorm Thanks a lot you just solved my problem!

[@PerBengtsson]

Nice build! Have you manage to find out what the maximum measurable RPM is?

[@EliteWorm]

It maxes out at 99.999 RPM but I don't have anything that fast to try it. Using a signal generator I was able to measure frequencies way way higher than that but obviously the sensor was excluded from the equation... What do you need to measure?

[@PerBengtsson]

@@EliteWorm Nothing that fast. Just curious how much the Arduino could measure. I mean how much time the interrupt needs for performing its calculations. I think I will build this as a simple way to read the RPM of my CNC spindles.

[@rubnzone]

What is the limit of revolutions per minute that the sensor can register?

[@EliteWorm]

This tachometer is limited to 99.999 RPM, but I don't know the exact limit of the sensor. I highly doubt you will need to measure anything that spins higher than that!

[@rickseiden1]

I'm curious about the battery hookup. It looks like you're feeding 9v right into the Nano. But that would kill it. So what are you doing?

[@binsun3081]

Arduino Nano accepts 7-12 Volt from VIN

[@EliteWorm]

Exactly! I'm connecting the 9V to the VIN pin. You can see all the details of the connections at the end of the description section!

[@rickseiden1]

@@binsun3081 I did not know that! Interesting!

[@rickseiden1]

I saw the wiring, but didn't know what Bin Sun pointed out below about it accepting 7-9V in on VIN. That may come in handy some day.

[@johnny5634]

Yo what's the max distance of the Arduino version you built?

[@EliteWorm]

Hi. I don't understand what you mean, sorry.

[@alexecheverria]

Great! But is 9V bad for Arduino? I though 5V was the limit!

[@EliteWorm]

Those 9V are connected to the VIN of the Arduino! Not to the 5V pin. Be careful! There's a voltage regulator so you can supply up to 12V. Check the connections at the end of the description 😉

[@alexecheverria]

Thanks!

[@pranavmannur74]

how do you decide the placement of the sensor ?

[@EliteWorm]

Can you elaborate on this? I don't understand what you mean...

[@kitecattestecke2303]

Plesse redesign with white flash oed and Hertz display to make a "Xenon flash RPM light" Combo unit :-9

[@sanjogshrigopalsoni6891]

I m trying to build a machine monitoring system. I need to build a system that will measure the machine RPM after regular interval of time. Can you help me with the program and circuit diagram? Also I need to do it with accuracy , will your solution give me accurate result?

[@adityasangamnerkar8516]

Hey I can help you dm me.

[@taylan8716]

Is it possible to measure rpm of a fan with this kind of tachometer?

[@EliteWorm]

Sure it is! It can read up to 99.999 RPM 😉

[@taylan8716]

@@EliteWorm Thank you very much for your answer 😊 and i wanna ask if there is minimum lenght of reflecting tape that should applied to the fan blade ?

[@EliteWorm]

@@taylan8716 Honestly I don't know, but as long as the laser beam is reflecting to the receiver you'll be good

[@taylan8716]

@@EliteWorm thans again☺️

[@pratap3369]

does it work with IR sensor?

[@EliteWorm]

The ones I tried had horrible bounce problems, but if your IR is reasonably good you should be able to use it!

[@pratap3369]

@@EliteWorm Hey,I've tried with both the IR sensor and the laser.both are working and giving the exact same results.You've gotta fiddle with sensitivity of IR module to get it work. Could you implement Max and Min rpm into the code cause I suck at coding. Thanks

[@aneikei]

​​@EliteWorm hi, it's been awhile since you posted but I'm hoping you'll still be able to help me. I'm trying to build a laser tachometer much like you've built here. However I'm using a Sunfounder I2C LCD1602 for the display module and coding isn't my strong suit. As such, can you edit your code using the I2C LCD1602 module and send it to me? Of course I'd be will to pay you for your time. Thank you.

[@شرموس]

the only design worked for me

[@murraynano]

Great idea, really like it! Any reason why a simple photoresistor would not work? Would be smaller and more compact that way?

[@EliteWorm]

I haven't tried it but in theory ambient light would affect way more a simple LDR than this specific sensor which is "only" affected by the laser beam due to its characteristics. In addition to that, LDRs are not known for reacting very fast... But again, I haven't tried it. Thank you for your comment!

[@eindeend]

An LDR would definitely be too slow

[@markgreco1962]

I’m in NEW SUB!!!

[@EliteWorm]

Thank you for your support, Mark!

[@ilretaggio2]

dosen't work.i followed everything step by step but the rpm counter is always at 0........... :(

[@EliteWorm]

Hi Riccardo. I would test the output signal of the sensor with an oscilloscope first. There must be an error somewhere!

[@ibnuazuka]

thanks for a nice video, can i use your code to esp8266??

[@MooseHeadSeries]

Love this project! But I have an issue that i can’t quite figure out. I followed everything perfectly, double checked all connections, but for some reason I keep blowing out the actual sensor. They get very hot, melt, and die. I’ve checked voltages to the board, and the sensors are getting the correct 5v, but...,yeah. It’s very odd. These are the ones I got 5V Laser Receiver Sensor Detection Module Non-Modulator Tube for Arduino Geekstory(Pack of 5) www.amazon.com/dp/B07H95679S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IvFsEbBNHXE44

[@EliteWorm]

They seem the same model that I used. Are you sure you're connecting them the right way? The flat side of the sensor must be facing outside of the PCB. Other than that, if you're getting 5V you should be go to! Have you tried connecting them to a 5V PSU?

[@g_rustam]

It doesn't show more than 10,000

[@seabeepirate]

14 February 2023 several eBay links no longer work.