sentry gun project

james_usf

Hi, i have a design project that my group is mulling over. we were considering building essentially a sentry gun (ping pong balls or something). the gun would use a number of thermal sensors to detect a person, and then a motor would turn the gun to fire at the target. Our main issue is the infamous "where to start" question, dealing mainly with the programming itself. We are not sure what microcontroller would be best suited for this, and big issues that we need to look out for. I realize that this is not much true information to go on, but we have just started thinking about it, and any advice i would consider beneficial advice.

ElectricAye

Welcome to the forums.

You might consider a PIR sensor. http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/pir/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/83/Default.aspx

and/or this little radar sensor: http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/xband/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/606/Default.aspx

Franklin

Before selecting any electronics or programming you need to spend some time deciding waht hardware you will be using what it will be required to do and the steps you will need to accomplish your task. Onlythen should you worry about the electronics.

Iamretired

Go to YouTube and search for 'Distance activated foam disc turret gun '. It doesn't use a ping pong gun, but it may give you some ideas.