Crate laser_dac 

Unified DAC backend abstraction for laser projectors.

This crate provides a common interface for communicating with various laser DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) hardware. Two API styles are available:

Getting Started

Frame Mode (recommended)

Submit complete frames with automatic transition blanking:

use laser_dac::{open_device, FrameSessionConfig, Frame, LaserPoint};

let device = open_device("my-device").unwrap();
let config = FrameSessionConfig::new(30_000);
let (session, _info) = device.start_frame_session(config).unwrap();

session.control().arm().unwrap();
session.send_frame(Frame::new(vec![
    LaserPoint::new(-0.5, 0.0, 65535, 0, 0, 65535),
    LaserPoint::new( 0.5, 0.0, 0, 65535, 0, 65535),
]));
// Frame replays automatically. Submit new frames for animation.

For advanced frame-mode output-space processing on the final presented sequence, use FrameSessionConfig::with_output_filter. The filter runs after transition composition, blanking, and color delay, just before the backend write.

For downstream watchdogs, FrameSession::metrics exposes a small liveness surface with connectivity, last-loop-activity, and last-write-success timestamps. Watchdog policy remains application-owned.

Callback Mode (advanced, FIFO backends only)

Fill point buffers via zero-allocation callback for custom timing. Not available for frame-swap backends (Helios) — use Frame Mode instead.

use laser_dac::{open_device, StreamConfig, LaserPoint, ChunkRequest, ChunkResult};

let device = open_device("my-device").unwrap();
let config = StreamConfig::new(30_000);
let (stream, _info) = device.start_stream(config).unwrap();

stream.control().arm().unwrap();

let exit = stream.run(
    |req: &ChunkRequest, buffer: &mut [LaserPoint]| {
        let n = req.target_points;
        for i in 0..n {
            buffer[i] = LaserPoint::blanked(0.0, 0.0);
        }
        ChunkResult::Filled(n)
    },
    |err| eprintln!("Stream error: {}", err),
);

Supported DACs

• Helios - USB laser DAC, Frame API only (feature: helios)
• Ether Dream - Network laser DAC (feature: ether-dream)
• IDN - ILDA Digital Network protocol (feature: idn)
• LaserCube WiFi - WiFi-connected laser DAC (feature: lasercube-wifi)
• LaserCube USB - USB laser DAC / LaserDock (feature: lasercube-usb)
• Oscilloscope - XY mode via stereo audio output (feature: oscilloscope)
• AVB Audio Devices - AVB audio output via the system audio host: CoreAudio (macOS), WASAPI or ASIO (Windows, ASIO opt-in via the asio feature), ALSA (Linux). Feature: avb.

Features

• all-dacs (default): Enable all DAC protocols
• usb-dacs: Enable USB DACs (Helios, LaserCube USB)
• network-dacs: Enable network DACs (Ether Dream, IDN, LaserCube WiFi)
• audio-dacs: Enable audio DACs (Oscilloscope, AVB)
• asio (default): ASIO host on Windows for AVB output. Requires the Steinberg ASIO SDK plus LIBCLANG_PATH and CPAL_ASIO_DIR set at build time. Disable with default-features = false (and re-enable the features you want) to fall back to the default cpal host (WASAPI on Windows) and skip the SDK requirement.

Coordinate System

All backends use normalized coordinates:

• X: -1.0 (left) to 1.0 (right)
• Y: -1.0 (bottom) to 1.0 (top)
• Colors: 0-65535 for R, G, B, and intensity

Each backend handles conversion to its native format internally.

Re-exports

pub use backend::BackendKind;

pub use backend::DacBackend;

pub use backend::FifoBackend;

pub use backend::FrameSwapBackend;

pub use backend::WriteOutcome;

pub use discovery::downcast_connect_data;

pub use discovery::slugify_device_id;

pub use discovery::DacDiscovery;

pub use discovery::DiscoveredDevice;

pub use discovery::DiscoveredDeviceInfo;

pub use discovery::Discoverer;

pub use point::LaserPoint;

pub use device::caps_for_dac_type;

pub use device::DacCapabilities;

pub use device::DacConnectionState;

pub use device::DacDevice;

pub use device::DacInfo;

pub use device::DacType;

pub use device::EnabledDacTypes;

pub use device::OutputModel;

pub use config::IdlePolicy;

pub use config::ReconnectConfig;

pub use config::StreamConfig;

pub use config::UnderrunPolicy;Deprecated

pub use stream::ChunkRequest;

pub use stream::ChunkResult;

pub use stream::Dac;

pub use stream::RunExit;

pub use stream::Stream;

pub use stream::StreamControl;

pub use stream::StreamInstant;

pub use stream::StreamStats;

pub use stream::StreamStatus;

pub use presentation::default_transition;

pub use presentation::Frame;

pub use presentation::FrameSession;

pub use presentation::FrameSessionConfig;

pub use presentation::FrameSessionMetrics;

pub use presentation::OutputFilter;

pub use presentation::OutputFilterContext;

pub use presentation::OutputResetReason;

pub use presentation::PresentedSliceKind;

pub use presentation::TransitionFn;

pub use presentation::TransitionPlan;

pub use backend::HeliosBackend;

pub use protocols::helios;

pub use backend::EtherDreamBackend;

pub use protocols::ether_dream;

pub use backend::IdnBackend;

pub use protocols::idn;

pub use backend::LasercubeWifiBackend;

pub use protocols::lasercube_wifi;

pub use backend::LasercubeUsbBackend;

pub use protocols::lasercube_usb;

pub use backend::AvbBackend;

pub use protocols::avb;

pub use protocols::lasercube_usb::rusb;

Modules

backend

DAC backend traits and implementations for the streaming API.

buffer_estimate

Buffer fullness estimation for FIFO DAC backends.

config

Stream and reconnection configuration types.

device

DAC identity, capabilities, and discovery filtering.

discovery

DAC device discovery.

point

The DAC-agnostic laser point type and coordinate/colour conversion helpers.

presentation

Frame-first presentation types and engine.

protocols

Protocol implementations for various laser DAC types.

stream

Stream and Dac types for point output.

types

Backwards-compatible re-exports.

Enums

Error

Streaming-specific error type.

Functions

list_devices

List all available DACs.

list_devices_filtered

List available DACs filtered by DAC type.

open_device

Open a DAC by ID.

open_device_with

Open a DAC by ID using a custom discovery factory.

Type Aliases

Result

Result type for streaming operations.