only one control output 72 is needed to prevent the pfn control card from seeing an open circuit across the one necessary relay 76 device cnc control or robot control can be used with this circuit and other devices such as capacitors may be connected in the circuit as well e g for use with an rc time constant circuit referring now to fig7 the present invention also includes a digital controller for controlling the output power level to the laser head 94 to change the energy level of the laser the digital controller switches on an external delay generator 83 located between the laser control computer 92 and the charging pulse forming network 82 this network flashes the laser amplifier heads 94 during operation of the laser peening process the laser control computer 92 generates a signal to trigger the laser head 94 to fire the laser the digital delay generator 83 receives the trigger signal from the laser control computer 92 and incorporates a predetermined delay into the trigger signal forming a trigger signal with a delay next the laser pulse forming network charger 82 receives the delayed trigger signal and provides the signal to the laser head 94 to initiate firing of the laser a robot control or cnc 84 is used to provide the predetermined delay which can be set or changed to the digital delay generator 83 while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention in addition many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to.