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Paintball turrent on a robot? — Parallax Forums

Paintball turrent on a robot?

P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
edited 2010-04-27 22:45 in Robotics
I friend of mine has an old paintball gun I can put on my robot, allowing me to start working with it as soon as I can. Do realize the robot isn't quite ready, but it's only two days away. I haven't ever tried this before, so my experience is quite limited, however I do intend to make it able to transition from R/C mode to automatic position and fire. Currently I only have two sonar sensors and one servo to make a turret, but I intend to upgrade my stash sometime later so all ideas are welcome.

Current capabilities of robot:
12v battery, 350 amp output
120v. 4.5 amp inverter
High strength, very little worry for weight
Medium space; been running lower and lower but there's still plenty left

This is what I can think of for a simple method (can do this upcoming week):
Servo mounted sonar turret rocks back and forth, finding edges of a person or target previously focused on in R/C mode. The two edges are then averaged together for the middle and the gun fires, running until stop command is sent.

Complex method (requires me to get more cash):
One servo mounted sonar focuses on the person, getting the coordinates for the gun to fire. For improved accuracy, a 200mw laser shines on that person and when pared with a photo sensor is used to determine factors such as height. Two side sensors, whether it's lasers or something else, focus to the edge of the barrel's end determining the angle of which the paintballs are coming out, whether due to wind or other factors. This is then made up for in the gun's angle. Also, possibly with a color sensor or something else, I hope to also be able to detect hits, thereafter deciding whether to keep firing or not.

Anyone with more experience wish to add to or bash my ideas? I'd much rather not have to learn the hard way if I don't have to!

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Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
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Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-04-16 15:49
    You have big plans for those 2 days! (Well then, Tony Stark, this is a very important week for you!) Good luck and keep us posted. Here's some inspiration for you. It's much easier to hit a target that cooperates by sitting still wearing easily-sensed Scotchlite reflector material in plain view...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuWY2X3sYT0

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    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • hover1hover1 Posts: 1,929
    edited 2010-04-16 16:16
    You mean something like this?

    ·http://www.paintballsentry.com/

    Jim
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-04-16 16:21
    @Jim: AWESOME!

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    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
    edited 2010-04-17 03:08
    The two days was estimated time to solder the wires for steering and running the engine, etc. Just yesterday I got the audio amplifier and pdb running, so now one of my primary tasks to do is solder everything I need onto the pdb. It's not an easy task when talking about something so large, so all I'm hoping for is that eventually I'll be done and actually see my robot doing something better than just sitting around looking pretty.

    BTW--I just got the gun and an old xbox joystick to control the robot with. I'll take pictures of it and anything new tomorrow if I can; if I'm too busy I'll have it up Sunday.

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    Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-04-17 05:12
    Hey, I want to see a video of that gas-engined beast running autonomously. That's the start of Terminator Judgement Day right there!

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    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • ScopeScope Posts: 417
    edited 2010-04-17 12:23
    I also have a gasoline powered robot I'm fiddling with . . . projected date of Phase I testing will be 01-May-2010

    bw_baja_5b_08-Apr-10__09.jpg
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2010-04-17 12:53
    Neat. Do you have some kind of remote kill switch?

    I've been thinking about a bigger robot, but one thing holding me back is the thought of a software bug coupled with an out of control robot. Small ones are easier to control if something goes wrong.
  • ScopeScope Posts: 417
    edited 2010-04-17 17:12
    Martin_H said...
    Neat. Do you have some kind of remote kill switch?

    Most definitely!!!

    This is upgrade #1, essential & absolutely required - not an option.

    Here's the one I installed:

    www.killerrc.com/products/products/killswitch.php
  • P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
    edited 2010-04-17 20:32
    I've found kill switches to be even more important on 150 pound robots--learned that the hard way when testing the drive train and crashing it a while back. The steering is still a little bent from it.

    Anyway I've been working on the control board, but unfortunately I can't do too much more until after 10 tonight. I posted a pic for those who are curious, and on it so far is the audio, most of the sd, and part of the relay power/amplifier and servo circuit. Also, in case any of you know, do I need a 3.3v pull-up on the sd portion?

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    Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
    control board.jpg
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  • P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
    edited 2010-04-18 21:06
    I was just checking to see how the paintball gun would fit on the robot. The picture is below.

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    Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
    black and blue with gun.jpg
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  • P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
    edited 2010-04-27 04:58
    I've been working my butt off to get this robot doing something. Saturday alone I spent 7 hours straight working on it. In this new picture you can see the speakers are connected and the wiring is much more advanced. What you can't see is that the brakes are much closer to completion with the break band fully mounted and functional, and the sprocket has been improved, shifted over to help correct unevenness in the way it was made. Also, if you look at the front you will see a motor lying there near the speakers. This is a window motor I just got today and it will be responsible for the elevation of the paintball gun. I also got the metal I will use to mount the upper motor and gun onto, however it isn't cut yet.

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    Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
    improved b&b.jpg
    1600 x 1200 - 257K
  • Spiral_72Spiral_72 Posts: 791
    edited 2010-04-27 16:19
    GOOD NIGHT THATS BIG!

    Hey man, the first couple pictures, I thought it was a toy!


    Out of curiosity, how will you determine elevation!? That'll be a trick [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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    "puff"...... Smile, there went another one.
  • P!-RoP!-Ro Posts: 1,189
    edited 2010-04-27 22:45
    It is a little big, huh? I think its 150 pounds, but it's a little hard to weigh. I agree with you that the elevation will be tricky, espescially if it's chasing someone down. For now I'm just going to think of it linearly, changing tilt based on distance somewhat but mostly leaving that control to the person with the joystick. At the end of May, however, I should start being able to get money for lasers and the gun·tilt could be based on the laser finding the tilt to get over the persons head (potentially dangerous) or a much safer but more difficult·method of finding their feet. To do any of this, however, I'm going to need a second prop as·I'm already using a good number if I/O pins for what I have now (13 now, 10 more soon, and that's·not including any sonar or ir sensors, servos to move them, warning or informational led's, or·radio communication circuitry).

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    Pi aren't squared, pi are round. Cornbread are squared!
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