With the "Safecutter" project, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) are supporting the Munich-based start-up Mr Beam Lasers GmbH, which specializes in the construction and sale of desktop laser cutting systems. Researchers are developing a laser-based material detection system and a plasma-based exhaust air purification system to make the use of laser cutters simple and safe, even for non-professionals.
With the Mr Beam II laser cutter, the company is bringing professional laser cutting and engraving into the home. A variety of materials such as plywood, metal, felt, leather, fabric or latex can be cut or engraved using these laser beams. In industry, this technology has been used for many manufacturing processes for years. The desktop laser cutter from Mr Beam Lasers is intended to make this industrially used technology accessible to end users such as craftspeople, architects, designers and, in our DIY society, also increasingly to technical amateurs.
Depending on the material, however, different gases and vapors, some of them toxic, can be produced during the cutting process. We are therefore currently working on a two-pronged solution consisting of a material detection and exhaust air purification system.
