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Boe-Bot + Paintball Gun = Awsome....need help though — Parallax Forums

Boe-Bot + Paintball Gun = Awsome....need help though

HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
edited 2005-04-29 15:35 in Robotics
this weekend, my dad and i are connecting my Spyder Imagine (electronic) to my boe-bot. firdt we are just going to figure out how to connect it, and use my roomba chassis to contain it all. im not really sure how to connect it though. i figured i cold just strip the wire to the trigger button that makes it fire, blug it into the breadboard, and then write some code that closes the circuit when·a function is triggered.·by my dad, being an elite electronics, computer, & automotive expert, says i could fry my BS2, my BOE, and/or the painball guns' controller board. i think i could just take the controllerboard out, the only reason its there is because the gun has multiple firing modes, which i dont even use. after my dad figure out how to do this, were going to drill a hole in the plastic grip, and make it so the gun is detachable. i'll make the paintball gun end a female 3.5mm RCA (headphone jack) and the connections to the breadboard a male 3.5mm RCA (headphone jack). that way, i can just plug the gun in and turn on the bot, or use my gun on my own. im not sure how im going to controll the bot. i dont know if im going to make it autonomous or remote controlled. either way, im going to try to mount the PBGun on a pan/tilt assembly so it can actually aim & shoot. if i make it autonomous, im going to use IR sensors to make it shoot at something that moves too fast or something. i need help. my dad doesnt know anything about programming, and im semi-new to PBasic. itd be nice to have the bot controlled via wireless internet, over a laptop, and have WASD move the bot and the arrow keys move the gun, and have a camera mounted on the gun so i can see what im shoting at. i really want to do this project because its the firt project my dad and i are actually doing together and both of us can enjoy it. so i really want this to work, it means alot to me. any suggestions for control or programming would be enormously appreciated.

Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2005-04-28 21:20
    Hello,

    ·· After reading your post I was wondering what specifically you need help with.· Thanks.



    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • voodoofishvoodoofish Posts: 67
    edited 2005-04-28 22:07
    hrmmm...would the ir sensor work for this, I would imagine you'd need ot be fairly close to the target to know that it moved

    anyway, make sure to protect the electronics gear (pb's fly at 220+ fps and can knock out an unsecured breadboard really easy.). I would test an empty box or the actual full setup with an egg tapped inside the box where the electronics would be....if it breaks, you'll know that your gear could get seveirly damaged

    cool idea though [noparse]:)[/noparse]
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2005-04-28 22:07
    HavoKane:

    I'm not sure if the connection issue is one of physically mounting the gun or activating the trigger (sounds like both). But for the trigger activation, why not use a servo?

    The rest of your ideas about making it autonomous are nuts, even if it is a paintball gun. There's far too much to deal with in this project, even if nobody gets hurt. I can envision PC-based control being safe, with a wireless link from the DEBUG menu or Hyperterminal. The delays of using webcams and the internet seems like a pretty wide scope for this product and fairly unnecessary (yes, but it is cool). I don't want to discourage you, but make the basics work first and scrap the autonomous idea.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax, Inc.
  • jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
    edited 2005-04-28 22:10
    You should look at this.

    http://www.foster-miller.com/lemming.htm
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2005-04-28 22:31
    i need help with programming it for autonomous or remote control

    i need suggestions for target sensing

    its going to be mounted inside a roomba body, so itll be safe

    the PBGun is electronic, it has a simple switch to activate the bolt.

    i need help figuring out how to connect the PBGun to the breadboard to make it shoot when told



    i thought i explained it ok, guess i missed some stuff, sorry i wasnt clear enough. again, any help is greatly appreciated
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2005-04-28 23:03
    Honestly I think that a CMUCam would be the best option since it has a rudimentry object tracking.
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2005-04-29 15:35
    You describe the controller mechanism being activated through a mechanical switch. You can electrically activate the switch through a mosfet, you can even do this without removing the switch if you desire by hooking it up in parallel with the switch like so: 
                 / existing switch
───┬───/  ────┬───
     │               │
     └──┐     ┌──┘
          ╘═╤═╛
             │
         stamp pin


    Not shown is a pull down resistor connected from the stamp pin to ground, 10kΩ should be fine.

    Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 4/29/2005 3:38:48 PM GMT
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