ALL News
SEPTEMBER 2023
Pictured above: JP Hansen standing behind the inaugural prototype of the laser horticulture device at the front desk of local Burien Plant Store "Growing Crazy".
hpi BUILDS LASER HORTICULTURE DEVICE FOR SMART GARDENING, DEBUTS IN LOCAL PLANT STORE
By JP Hansen
HPI Partners with local Burien plant store, Growing Crazy, so public can access laser horticulture technology and treat any plant they like for a door fee of $50.
On Friday, September 15 in Olde Burien's own Growing Crazy plant store, Hansen Photonics Incorporated fired up a new and potentially revolutionary gardening technology developed by local inventor, JP Hansen.
The laser horticulture device in question "The Green Beam" is built using recycled 3D printer parts, and patented optical hardware. Seedlings are placed on the bed of the 3D printer and treated with a luminescent feast of specially tailored and filtered laser light that allows certain parts of each plant to grow differently. Each color treats a different part of the plant, and gives it a supercharged growth potential.
HPI worked closely with store owner Cheryl to perform initial tests on the efficacy of the prototype device, which was originally a monolithic block of piece of green plastic with dozens of slots for a myriad of optical components. Test tubes full of dirt glowed like lamps under the laser light, and produced substantially longer roots in tomato seedlings over the next week. Longer roots means better resistance to withering and drought. As climate change intensifies, plants need every boost they can get. Laser horticulture is the wave of the future.
HPI has partnered with the University of Idaho to test and apply its laser horticulture device to causes that are relevant to the college of natural resources, such as fruit growth, reforestation, and experimental forestry throughout the Pacific Northwest.
HPI plans on expanding public access to the horticulture device by opening stations in local Burien makerspace "The Box" later this month. Subsequent stations will be found in local businesses like nurseries, and educational institutions.
August 2022
Pictured from left to right: JP Hansen, Karl Hansen, H. Lynn Baker, and Katy Kachmarik
hpi Demonstrates eco-friendly gigabit laser communicator in forest.
By JP Hansen
Working in conjunction with the Environmental Science Center at Ed Munroe Seahurst Park, HPI spearheads a startlingly simple new gigabit laser communications system focused on reducing environmental harm from infrastructure.
On Saturday, August 27 at Ed Munroe Seahurst Park, Hansen Photonics Incorporated met with the on-site Environmental Science Center's director of community engagement, Katy Kachmarik with a singular purpose: demonstrating a new and potentially revolutionary communications technology developed by local inventor, JP Hansen.
The group made a long evening hike in overcast weather with several heavy packs to the middle of Seahurst park's urban forest. There, HPI placed a compact, white lens assembly on one edge of a small stream valley, and carefully aimed it so it could be detected by a distant technician on the other side. The unassuming device in question may look like a small telescope to the casual observer, but is actually a gigabit-speed laser communications device designed to be safe, affordable and simple enough for anyone to use, with a communications range that could feasibly replace short-haul fiber infrastructure in the future.
The whole assembly came to life at the flip of a switch with a gentle humming, and the team dug in with intense concentration, making sure the invisible, infrared light beam could be detected as quickly as possible. After roughly seventeen tense minutes, the team detected a strong signal on the other side of the valley --a success! The transmitter transmitted its signal, causing no ecological damage and eliminating the need to lay a fiber cable.
Whereas similar technology may cost tens of thousands of dollars to purchase, and even more to install, this exciting innovation costs less than a new laptop, runs at competitive speeds, and represents an elegant alternative to the multimillion dollar infrastructural fiber-laying operations currently underway in multiple parts of the state.
Typically, large-scale operations cause environmental harm both by digging, and by polluting nearby ecosystems. But this new lens assembly fits on a tripod, and makes connecting a new client to a source of gigabit internet as easy and ecologically harmless as pointing a flashlight. HPI Hopes to eventually open-source the technology so that more people can connect to high-speed internet over beams of light, and get approval to deploy the technology in an urban setting. When the technology scales, it could significantly benefit disadvantaged communities by allowing them to get internet access to their homes without needing to petition to begin a months-long infrastructural project.