The OMTech Polar Desktop Laser is currently one of the most sought-after CO2 laser machines on the market and is an ideal solution for small businesses in the laser engraving sector, laser enthusiasts, and beginners in the arts and crafts sector who want to start creative projects. One outstanding feature of the Polar is its 360-degree panoramic 5MP camera, which allows you to scan images and place them using drag-and-drop functionality, enabling you to track the application of your designs onto the material in real time. Below is a detailed explanation of how to calibrate the camera correctly.

Preparation

Make a note of the following: a laptop, the camera cable, a double-sided USB cable, a wooden board measuring 510 x 300 mm, and a dot image measuring 148 mm x 105 mm.

Connect the cables

Thread the supplied camera cable from the rear of the machine to the inside, open the buckle of the original camera cable, remove the cable, connect the supplied camera cable, and buckle it securely.

Connect the supplied double-sided USB cable to the machine and the computer.

Connect the USB connector of the camera cable to the USB port of the laptop.

Place the prepared paper board, wooden board, and printed calibration file in the work area of the laser engraving machine.

Turn on the switch of the laser engraving machine.

Start the software

Open the LightBurn software on your computer and activate the “Camera Control” window. You will see a window as shown below:

In the “Laser Tools” drop-down menu, click “Calibrate Camera Lens,” select ‘SHUNCCM’ and “Fisheye Lens,” and click “Next”.

Close the activated Honeycomb check (Honeycomb check enabled).

Capture calibration patterns

Click the “Capture” button as shown in the figure, place the “Circular Pattern” card in the camera’s view, and then click “Capture.” Try to achieve the lowest possible score—0.3 or less is ideal. If the score is 1.0 or lower, click “Next” to continue. (If you don't achieve this immediately, you can recapture the current image or return to the beginning and try again. It may take several attempts to understand how to align the card with the camera to get the lowest score.)

The images are updated during capture. The first five images are centered views, followed by views from below, the left side, the right side, and then the top. If the camera has a strong fisheye effect, it may be necessary to move the non-centered images slightly inward to enable successful capture. When all steps are complete and you are satisfied with the good calibration results and undistorted images, click “Done” to save the result. You can also click the “lign Camera” button on the last page to be automatically guided to the next wizard.

To adjust the focus—before moving on to the next step—it is necessary to move the focus (Z-axis) to the correct position. Select “Move” from the menu and change the ‘Distance’ to “14.00.” Then click “↓” to lower the Z-axis.

Open the “Calibrate Camera Alignment” option in the “Laser Tools” menu to access the camera alignment calibration page.
Open the “select your camera” drop-down menu and select SHUNCCM as your camera. When the camera image appears on the page, click Next.

Set parameters

Adjust the relevant parameters using the page prompts: Set material thickness to 3, filling speed to 100, filling capacity to 25%, line speed to 30, and finally line capacity to 25% as well.

Check engraving area and engrave

Click “Frame” and check the machine’s printing area to ensure that it is located on the wooden board you have placed. Once you have confirmed the accuracy of the area, click the “Start” button to begin engraving.

Wait until the machine has finished engraving, then click “Next” to proceed to the next page.

Capture the image

Click the “Capture Image” button, and the image from the camera will be displayed on the right side of the page. Confirm that it is correct, then click to continue.

Set calibration points

Follow the instructions on the page to click on the centers of numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the screen, making sure that the ten-digit symbols generated overlap as closely as possible with the crosshairs on the screen. This will ultimately form a standard square. Continue clicking to complete the calibration for camera alignment.

Select “Camera Control” from the menu to access the camera settings page. Click the “Update Overlay” button to upload the camera image to the editing page.

Perform test engraving and inspect the correction results

Draw any shape on the editing page and process it to test the effectiveness of the camera correction. If the deviation between the editing page and the actual processed shape is within 1-2 mm, this indicates that the correction was successful. If the deviation is too large, please repeat the correction steps.