The Advanced LASER Mining Array (ALMA) is used for researching mining techniques that cover the entire surface area of the object you are trying to mine. The apparatus uses motors and wedge prisms to ..
The Advanced LASER Mining Array (ALMA) is used for researching mining techniques that cover the entire surface area of the object you are trying to mine. The apparatus uses motors and wedge prisms to demonstrate a helical mining technique with a low-powered LASER. The motors rotate the wedges with the second one being 0.5 deg/s slower than the first at all times. This allows for a larger surface area to be covered with a smaller beam diameter with equal amounts of intensity using the helix shape. Testing was done by using multiple wedge prisms with different beam deviations to find which angle of deviation created a better helix pattern. Also using different motors to see which were more effective and precise, giving the best pattern possible.
