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DiscoverCircuits.com -- Hobby Corner
Last Updated on:
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 08:14 PM
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Homemade Corner Cube Reflector
Using Glass Mirror Tiles
designed by David Johnson, P.E. |
| Corner cubes are
optical devices which have a unique property. Light sent into the front face
will be sent back to the source in a parallel path. As long as light can
strike the reflective surfaces the it will always be sent back to the source.
Tiny corner cubes can be molded into plastic for form an array of individual
reflectors. These are often used on bicycles to make them stand out at
night. |
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The figure below shows a large corner cube reflector
you can make yourself. You simple glue three foot square glass tile mirrors
together. A sturdy cardboard box will help position the mirrors. One mirror is
positioned at the bottom of the box and the other two converge at the box sides.
You would align such an assembly so the light would enter at a 30-degree angle
relative to the bottom. The target for such an assembly would be the point where
the three mirrors converge. I have used such a simple mirror for some experiments
and was able to detect reflections over a distance of 10 miles. Larger mirror
assemblies or even multi-reflector arrays are also possible to increase the
effective range. Perhaps you might experiment with your own large reflector to see
if a long range distant measuring systems could be devised. Using two such
reflectors it might be possible to pinpoint your location using triangulation
techniques. |
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