LaserCube Setup with BeamTracer: LAN Client to First Light

To drive a Wicked Lasers LaserCube from BeamTracer, connect the cube to your network with Ethernet, set Control Mode → LaserOS and Settings → Connection → LAN client on its display, and quit LaserOS on every device. Then click FIND NETWORK DACS in the BeamTracer Bridge, choose LASERCUBE in any laser tool, and press ARM and START.

Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com — this is the setup we run on our own bench, in the order we run it, with the one or two places it usually goes wrong.

Everything below was checked on one unit: a LaserCube 7.5W Ultra Mk2 on firmware 1.16 and then 2.0, wired over Ethernet. Where a step depends on that, it says so.

General guidance, not legal or safety advice. Laser rules are specific to where and how you project. Verify current requirements with the FDA CDRH and your state laser agency before any public use, and read the laser show safety guide before the first beam leaves the lens.

What do I need to connect a LaserCube to BeamTracer?

You need the cube on the same local network as a Mac running the free BeamTracer Bridge, a BeamTracer laser tool open in Chrome or Edge, and a Studio plan or one of your free output sessions. BeamTracer talks to the cube directly over the network; LaserOS is not part of the chain once the cube is set up.

The BeamTracer Bridge is the small menu-bar app that reaches network hardware a browser cannot. Install it once from the Download page; it runs on the same Mac as your browser.

Why connect a LaserCube with Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi?

Wicked Lasers recommends it. The LaserOS community FAQ describes the cube's Wi-Fi as meant mainly for outdoor use with a single phone or tablet connected directly, and says that "for all other uses, ethernet is the preferred connection method." The same FAQ lists busy Wi-Fi as a cause of stuttering.

Every result on our bench, and every step in this post, is over a cable. Plug the cube into the same switch or router as the Mac, not into the venue's Wi-Fi.

How do I put a LaserCube in LAN client mode?

Two settings on the cube's own display put it in the mode BeamTracer uses. Do this once; the cube keeps it.

Why do I have to quit LaserOS first?

Because a cube that LaserOS is holding reports itself as unavailable. On our bench the cube reported its safety interlock as not satisfied for as long as LaserOS was connected, and as satisfied the moment LaserOS quit. The Bridge reads that report, so a cube LaserOS is holding looks like a cube with its interlock open.

That is also the fastest diagnosis in this whole setup: if the Bridge reports the interlock open and your key is in, look for a LaserOS window somewhere — a laptop in another room, a phone in a pocket.

How does the BeamTracer Bridge find the LaserCube?

The Bridge asks. A LaserCube does not announce itself on the network, so the Bridge sends a request when you click FIND NETWORK DACS, lists every cube that answers, and then checks a listed cube again every few seconds so its row stays current.

If the first scan after launching the Bridge lists nothing, click FIND NETWORK DACS again. That happened to us once on a freshly launched Bridge; the second scan found the cube.

How do I get first light from a LaserCube?

Send a known test frame at low power. The ILDA Viewer's orientation pattern is the right one: it is simple, it marks which way is up and which way is right, and it tells you at a glance whether the picture on the wall matches the picture on the screen.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The ILDA Viewer with ORIENT loaded from TEST SUITE. X is marked at the right, Y at the top, and the word reads Top the right way round.

The same pattern in the ILDA Viewer's GALVO SIMULATION, slowed down so you can follow the one beam as it draws the square, the diagonals, the axes, the word and the circle.

On our cube the pattern landed on the wall the same way round as it sits on the screen, and the same way round as LaserOS's own test pattern on the same wall. BeamTracer already accounts for the cube's native horizontal direction, which runs opposite to the ILDA convention, so there is nothing to flip in BeamTracer.

Which LaserCube firmware works with BeamTracer?

We tested firmware 1.16 and 2.0, the current release, and BeamTracer drove the cube on both. Wicked Lasers states that the cube's network protocol has not changed between releases. The Bridge reads the firmware version from the cube and shows it in the device row, so you can check yours without LaserOS.

We updated from the SD card: the firmware file goes in the Lasercube/Firmware/ folder on the card, and the cube asks on its display whether to install it at the next power-on. The one difference BeamTracer sees on 2.0 is a larger receive buffer, which the Bridge reads from the cube and uses on its own.

After any update, check the orientation pattern against LaserOS's own test pattern once. One earlier firmware release mirrored LaserOS's output until the release after it fixed that.

What if the LaserCube is not found, will not light, or looks mirrored?

Most first-light problems are one of these four, in this order.

The Bridge does not list the cube. Confirm Control Mode → LaserOS and LAN client on the cube, that it is on the same network as the Mac, and click FIND NETWORK DACS a second time. The row says OFFLINE. The Bridge has stopped hearing from the cube; check its power and cable, and the row comes back by itself.

The Bridge reports the interlock open although the key is in. LaserOS is connected somewhere. Quit it on that device and the report clears.

The image is mirrored left to right. BeamTracer's output and LaserOS's own test pattern matched on our wall with both of LaserOS's Flip X and Flip Y projector settings off. If yours is mirrored, open LaserOS once, check that both are off, then quit LaserOS again before you reconnect. If you have just updated the firmware, compare against LaserOS's test pattern too.

Everything connects, but the colors or the drawing are not what you expected. That is past setup. The LaserCube page covers color thresholds, point rate and what the cube does when the stream stops. How fast the cube can draw is its own question: LaserCube Point Rate: What the 35K Limit Means.

The output panel itself — Power limit, Frame rate, Galvo speed, Output scale and the ADVANCED calibration — works the same for every DAC and is documented once on Laser DAC Output.

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Next: LaserCube Point Rate: What the 35K Limit Means, the LaserCube reference page, and the Laser Show Safety Guide before any show.

That's LaserCube setup. beamtracer.com — I'll see you in the next one.