Laser pointer

Abstract

A laser pointer for continuously drawing arbitrary shapes on a surface comprises a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirror configured to deflect an emitted laser beam, wherein the deflection angle of the MEMS mirror can be altered by means of applying a set of drive values to the MEMS mirror; an orientation measurement unit configured to continuously determine a current orientation and to output said current orientation at an output; a memory being configured to store current orientations received from the orientation measurement unit as a set of orientation samples; and a drive circuit configured to generate said set of drive values by subtracting the current orientation from the set of orientation samples and to apply said set of drive values to the MEMS mirror.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the drive circuit is configured to repeatedly apply the set of drive values to the MEMS mirror. 
     
     
         3 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the rate of applying the individual drive values of the set of drive values to the MEMS mirror is at least N times higher than the rate of storing the individual orientation samples in the memory, wherein N corresponds to the number of orientation samples stored in the memory. 
     
     
         4 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the memory is configured to delete an orientation sample from the memory after a predetermined time. 
     
     
         5 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the memory is configured to delete the oldest orientation sample if a new orientation sample is stored. 
     
     
         6 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the drive circuit has a further output connected to a control input of the laser generation unit and is further configured to control an intensity of the emitted laser beam via said control input. 
     
     
         7 . The laser pointer according to  claim 6 , wherein the drive circuit is configured to control the intensity of the emitted laser beam such that the intensity of the emitted laser beam is proportional to the number of drive values in said set of drive values. 
     
     
         8 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the laser pointer has an input device via which the storing of current orientations in the memory can be switched on and off. 
     
     
         9 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the orientation measurement unit is further configured to continuously determine a current position of the laser pointer,
 wherein the memory is further configured to store current positions received from the orientation measurement unit together with the current orientations as a set of orientation samples with position samples, and   wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values based on the current orientation, the current position, and the set of orientation samples with position samples.   
     
     
         10 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the laser pointer further comprises a distance measurement unit configured to determine a current distance of the laser pointer from the surface, and to output said current distance at an output connected to an input of the memory and to an input of the drive circuit,
 wherein the memory is further configured to store current distances received from the distance measurement unit together with the current orientations and current positions as a set of orientation samples with position samples and distance samples, and   wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values based on the current orientation, the current position, the current distance, and the set of orientation samples with position samples and distance samples.   
     
     
         11 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the laser pointer further comprises a sampler interposed between the orientation measurement unit and the memory,
 wherein the sampler is configured to output orientation samples at a constant rate to the memory for storing.   
     
     
         12 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the laser pointer further comprises a low-pass filter interposed between the orientation measurement unit and the memory. 
     
     
         13 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the laser pointer has at least two laser generation units, each configured for emitting a laser beam of a different wavelength onto said MEMS mirror. 
     
     
         14 . The laser pointer according to  claim 13 , wherein the drive circuit is configured to control the intensity of the laser beams emitted by the at least two laser generation units and to use each of the laser generation units for different subsets of the set of orientation samples. 
     
     
         15 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the laser pointer has at least two MEMS mirrors, each configured for deflecting at least a part of said laser beam,
 wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values for each of the MEMS mirrors.   
     
     
         16 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the drive circuit is configured to repeatedly apply the set of drive values to the MEMS mirror. 
     
     
         17 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the memory is configured to delete an orientation sample from the memory after a predetermined time. 
     
     
         18 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the memory is configured to delete the oldest orientation sample if a new orientation sample is stored. 
     
     
         19 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the drive circuit has a further output connected to a control input of the laser generation unit and is further configured to control an intensity of the emitted laser beam via said control input. 
     
     
         20 . The laser pointer according to  claim 9 , wherein the laser pointer further comprises a low-pass filter interposed between the orientation measurement unit and the memory. 
     
     
         21 . The laser pointer according to  claim 25 , wherein the orientation measurement unit comprises a camera configured to view and process an environment of the laser pointer. 
     
     
         22 . A laser pointer comprising:
 a laser generation unit configured to emit a laser beam;   a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirror configured to deflect the emitted laser beam, wherein the deflection angle of the MEMS mirror can be altered by means of applying a set of drive values to an input of the MEMS mirror;   an orientation measurement unit configured to continuously determine a current orientation of the laser pointer and to output said current orientation at an output;   a memory having an input that is connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit, the memory being configured to store current orientations received from the orientation measurement unit as a set of orientation samples;   a drive circuit having a first input connected to the memory for retrieving said set of orientation samples from the memory and a second input connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit for receiving the current orientation from the orientation measurement unit;   wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values by subtracting the current orientation from the set of orientation samples and to apply said set of drive values to the input of the MEMS mirror;   wherein the memory is configured to continuously store new orientation samples while the MEMS mirror is driven by the drive circuit, and the drive circuit is configured to update the set of drive values when a new orientation sample is stored in the memory; and   wherein the rate of applying the individual drive values of the set of drive values to the MEMS mirror is at least N times higher than the rate of storing the individual orientation samples in the memory, wherein N corresponds to the number of orientation samples stored in the memory.   
     
     
         23 . A laser pointer comprising:
 a laser generation unit configured to emit a laser beam;   a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirror configured to deflect the emitted laser beam, wherein the deflection angle of the MEMS mirror can be altered by means of applying a set of drive values to an input of the MEMS mirror;   an orientation measurement unit configured to continuously determine a current orientation of the laser pointer and to output said current orientation at an output;   a memory having an input that is connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit, the memory being configured to store current orientations received from the orientation measurement unit as a set of orientation samples;   a drive circuit having a first input connected to the memory for retrieving said set of orientation samples from the memory and a second input connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit for receiving the current orientation from the orientation measurement unit;   wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values by subtracting the current orientation from the set of orientation samples and to apply said set of drive values to the input of the MEMS mirror;   wherein the memory is configured to continuously store new orientation samples while the MEMS mirror is driven by the drive circuit, and the drive circuit is configured to update the set of drive values when a new orientation sample is stored in the memory;   wherein the drive circuit has a further output connected to a control input of the laser generation unit and is further configured to control an intensity of the emitted laser beam via said control input such that the intensity of the emitted laser beam is proportional to the number of drive values in said set of drive values.   
     
     
         24 . A laser pointer comprising:
 a laser generation unit configured to emit a laser beam;   a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirror configured to re-draw a shape onto a surface in at least a second position by deflecting the emitted laser beam along a movement that corresponds to a tilting movement previously performed by the laser pointer from at least a first position to the at least second position;   wherein the tilting movement is memorized within the laser pointer for being re-drawn as said shape by the MEMS mirror.   
     
     
         25 . The laser pointer according to  claim 24 , wherein a deflection angle of the MEMS mirror can be altered by means of applying a set of drive values to an input of the MEMS mirror;
 the laser pointer further comprising:   an orientation measurement unit configured to continuously determine a current orientation of the laser pointer and to output said current orientation at an output;   a memory having an input that is connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit, the memory being configured to store current orientations received from the orientation measurement unit as a set of orientation samples;   a drive circuit having a first input connected to the memory for retrieving said set of orientation samples from the memory and a second input connected to the output of the orientation measurement unit for receiving the current orientation from the orientation measurement unit;   wherein the drive circuit is configured to generate said set of drive values by subtracting the current orientation from the set of orientation samples and to apply said set of drive values to the input of the MEMS mirror; and   wherein the memory is configured to continuously store new orientation samples while the MEMS mirror is driven by the drive circuit, and the drive circuit is configured to update the set of drive values when a new orientation sample is stored in the memory.