The real array is not a hazardous beam combiner. It is a bounded optical timing lattice. Two banks of 64 low-power emitters fire paired pulses toward a center collector. The center stores an analog-like reading in software, then feeds the next 0.001 phase step.
Use LEDs first. The first goal is not optical coherence; it is timing, geometry, feedback, and safe bounded control. A photodiode or light sensor at the center can serve as the well. A small capacitor on the analog readout can smooth the signal for a more physical accumulation effect.
Do not combine many collimated laser beams into a free-space focal point. Use diffusion, current limiting, low duty cycle, enclosure switches, and shutdown logic. This package models a realistic safe prototype path, not a high-power laser array.