Project Logs

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• Still alive

  Ismael Barros² • 10/26/2014 at 23:43 • 0 comments

  Very short weekend hack-a-ton. Small improvements, big fun.

  First, 3D-printed an air vortex for the airsoft gun module. After some miscalculations and misprints, we got the thing to shoot like an evil bastard. Not very accurate and not very reliable, so a lot of space for improvement, but it's a solid first step.

  Marcos never knew what hit 'im.

  Next up, we integrated an HC-SR04 sonar distance sensor in the software, to improve the projectile trajectory calculations. Surprisingly accurate for the ridiculous cost.

  And of course we couldn't call it a day without some quality debriefing.

• Buzzing machine

  Ismael Barros² • 08/29/2014 at 05:05 • 0 comments

  Still not daring to be in front of the cannons until we receive our laser safety goggles, and thus still using the same silly video, but we're pretty proud of the improvements nonetheless!

  Calibration is not perfect but it works, and hardware control has been optimized a great deal. We've also implemented burst laser shots, to emulate the real weapon.

  Next up: attaching the weapons, integrating a laser/sonar rangefinder, and printing out a realistic Portal Turret-like housing!

• It's alive!

  Ismael Barros² • 08/24/2014 at 21:02 • 0 comments

  We've finished our first weekend-long hack-a-ton, with modest but robust results!

  Not the prettiest nor the smartest turret in town, but she's our daughter and we love her.

  There's still no housing, but 3D-printed suports for our relays and servos are working great, and we also have some working prototypes for the water gun and compressed air airsoft gun modules.

  Software-wise, servo and relay control from the main CPU is robust thanks to the badass motherfucker that is Marcos, and everything can be neatly controlled using a joystick (PS4 and XBox 360 controllers supported!). Calibration is still not working correctly, so detection using a webcam is not ready yet, but we're very little quirks away from a 100% working (yet naked) turret!

  As a little bonus side-quest, we've integrated support for the getDigital USB Missile Launcher!

• Second software iteration

  Ismael Barros² • 08/16/2014 at 06:42 • 0 comments

  Added a pantilt simulation to test calibration and targeting. The white crosshair is the body, and the red crosshair is the eye laser. In the future, we want to upgrade the eye laser to an eye range-finder laser, in order to measure distances and correct the trajectory of the projectiles.

  Also added mjpeg streaming of the current video source, to enable a web/smartphone control app in the future :D

• Very sad cardboard pre-prototype

  Ismael Barros² • 08/16/2014 at 06:26 • 0 comments

  Just a cardboard mockup to get a feel of how the turret moves, its dimensions, range, etc.

  You'll notice I'm a software guy. Thankfully we have hardware experts on the team.

• First working software prototype!

  Ismael Barros² • 08/16/2014 at 06:23 • 0 comments

  With target detection, classification and tracking.

  Right now we only have face and body detection (haar cascades), but  we'll soon add motion and color detection.

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