Paintball Sentry

Solution for much greater Range

Sep 4, 2008

David

I thought of a way to dramatically increase the range while still using only one camera and also get a 90 field of view. the problem, as always, is i can't find a piece of hardware that meets my needs. i need a webcam that has around a 3x OPTICAL (not digital) zoom and does at least 640x480@30fps for around $100 or less. for some reason that's really hard to find. it might also be possible to make a zoom lens that will work on most cameras. i don't know, but if you do or know of a optical zoom webcam, email me. (i've already seen that one that has a 7x non adjustable zoom built in [that's too much zoom])


List of Current Features with version 8

Sep 1, 2008

David

friend/foe id is done. the build for version 8 is done (but i haven't put pics up yet). targeting has been greatly improved so that multiple targets are not a problem anymore. basically, if it were for sale right now, it's product features would be:

  • Universal gun mount and 'trigger finger.'

  • Simple calibration procedure for new guns.

  • Multiple firing modes: infinite ammo, full auto (all I ever use), semi auto w/ large round counter (that counts down and stops firing when 0 is reached), and an adjustable firing rate for semi auto mode

  • Multiple modes of targeting (modes can be used in any combination): center of all motion, biggest/fastest target only, and enemy color targeting.

  • A manual aiming feature that uses the mouse to aim and fire. (this feature is also good for verifying calibration is correct)

  • Highly customizable enemy color targeting system. (it's probably too complex for the average user so i'll be working to simplify it)

  • The ability to operate the sentry remotely from any computer with internet access.

  • All aluminum construction to reduce weight as much as possible.

  • Everything is powered off of the laptop for ease of use. (it doesn't make sense to charge for an onboard computer when you can save $700+ by just using your laptop and just removing it when you're done)

  • Inexpensive design keeping the cost low at below $750 (other automated sentries cost at least 3 times more for less features.)

  • Rain and paintball proof

Still to do:

  • Add an on/off remote.

  • make it so the user can use whatever mp3's he wants for the sound affects

  • setup a type S corp or an LLC (know where i can do it for less than $300? email me)

  • copyright the software (same here)

  • Patent anything that turns out to be patentable (know how i can do this cheaply [it's really expensive]?)

  • make a good demo video (take it out in the woods :)

  • sell them on eBay (probably not allowed. if you know for sure, let me know)


Friend/Foe ID is almost done

Aug 29, 2008

David

    I'm putting the finishing touches on a color-based enemy ID system. I will have it done by this weekend. It will be extremely customizable (it already is). After that, it's back to completing a final hardware design (which I've already drawn up and bought the parts for). I don't imagine that taking more than a few days too. I also want to thank you for your donations. they help out in hardware/prototyping costs.

    When the system is done, it will cost just above the break-even level for material and labor (which should be way under a grand). luckily i'll be paying local HS and college students to make them at as close as i can get to minimum wage. (they will, of course, be thoroughly quality checked and tested.) that's good for you because, A; if i personally made them it would waste all my time and I'd only be able to make so many, B; if i paid a machine shop, the cost of their much higher hourly rates and their ridiculous profit margin would be reflective in the final cost driving it up to some ridiculous, sky high price of  around 3-4k.

back to work..


Ok, it's fixed

Aug 24, 2008

David

    I gave it an inexpensive suspension system. now it can still weigh very little (25 lbs with gun) and also handle the momentum and kick of it's own movement without shaking the camera or moving the whole thing. I also learned all about the down side to aluminum. it's 3 times more flexible than steel.

    My roommate has a brown nose pit and for some reason it just loves getting pummeled by the sentry. it will run into view and try to bite the little plastic BBs while squinting it's eyes and chasing it's tail as it gets a steady stream of BBs to the face and body. as soon as it hears the sound of the turret turning on it goes ape shit, runs right up to it, and starts yipping and running in circles like it can't wait to play. it's the strangest yet funniest thing I've seen in a while. I'd post a vid of it but some POS sissy would totally misunderstand and call peta on me even though the gun only shoots 150fps.

    I want to get an invert mini (but they're expensive) to use in the next vid. me personally, I prefer to use electric, full auto, airsoft guns because they can hold a lot of ammo, the ammo is cheap, they don't make a mess, and are very low maintenance. the problem is, you won't see the little BBs in a video (i can't even see them fly when I'm standing right next to them) so, for that reason, paintball will mostly be used to demonstrate it.

    I'm pushing real hard to keep the price really low. right now, the assembled hardware (minus a gun and computer) will be very close to $500 shipped. you can barely build one yourself for that much. and that's much much cheaper than the competition (what little there is).

    Now that the shaking issue is solved, I'm going to waterproof it, implement the Arm/Disarm remote, and fr/foe id.


Nope, that design was no good

Aug 21, 2008

David

The thing was so light that the momentum of the gun rapidly changing direction caused the camera (and case) to shake. After a lot of thought, I've narrowed down the best solution. It will mean a total redesign but it will only take me a few days or less to build it. I've been getting some emails from people wondering why version X wasn't good enough to sell, I'll list the reasons, next to each version, on the history page.


Version 7 is done

Aug 16, 2008

David

More pics and description on the history page.


Version 7 will be a Executive Briefcase Sentry

Aug 13, 2008

David

I make more and more progress on it every day. I will be done within a week. everything will be contained inside an 18x13x5 Executive attaché and weigh far less than the 67lb version in the video. it will be similar to The Ronnin from 007 but it will deploy on it's side.

Parts and Design laid out for version 7

Aug 8, 2008

David

Version 6 was a bust. the only real improvement it provided was the ability to easily and quickly mount any gun on it and it's universal 'trigger finger'. analog cameras were not the way to go, the frame was too heavy, the servos too weak, and the tripod legs met in one spot making wobble and shaking of the camera more likely.

Luckily, I have solved those issues and more. I have a totally different turret design that will improve accuracy and make calibration a one time thing. I've found servos with 10+ times the torque allowing realistic weight weapons to be mounted. I still can't get my webcam to up it's resolution to full capacity (I'll pay someone to solve this if they think they're up to it). range can be quadrupled with the use of a megapixel IP camera like the Arecont AV3100DN which can do 2048x1536 @ 15fps (but the damn thing costs $800). What that means is if a can't get a $90 webcam to go to it's max res, I might have to use a $800 IP camera instead. I've long since had a computer setup lined up. a simple arm/disarm keyfob is also going to be implemented and there are some good software improvements I though up that should improve targeting behavior. I could use a bunch of off the shelf stuff, but that would drive the costs way up to over 5k. that would be fine for the government I guess, but not really worth it for anyone else. therefore, I'm trying to keep it as cheap as possible.

I'm extremely frustrated with the lack of progress lately. My job just barely pays the bills and consumes most of my time (just like hourly jobs are designed to do) so when I figure out how to pay for version 7, it'll be built.

Trouble finding the right hardware to make improvements with.

Aug 4, 2008

David

Ok. I use a 'LifeCam' VX6000 that has a 71 degree field of view and can do 1.3MP video. I'm looking for a USB or firewire camera that is better than that in either of those 2 categories (without sacrificing one for the other) . (analog cameras don't count either.) I need the highest possible resolution, for range, and the widest possible field of view.

I also can't get the camera to go to 1.3MP except by using the viewer software that came with it. in my program the camera just defaults to 640x480. I'm still looking for help in getting my software to tell the camera's drivers to up the resolution.

I've shied away from using analog cameras because they generally have poor resolution and all the analog to digital USB converters i've used either didn't work at all or worked, but were laggy and dropped frames randomly. they also won't have a high resolution either. I do miss the wide angle view and the IR lighting analog cameras provide though.

On the subject of depth perception; I don't see the need for going through all the trouble of getting 2 camera feeds to work at the same time (for use as a right and left eye) because the odds of the frame rate still being above a usable 15 fps are slim to none. I've already considered many other ways to incorporate multiple cameras. the result is always either poor resolution or poor frame rate. depth perception is really only relevant in bullet lag anyway. a real gun hardly has any at 100 ft and a paintball gun does, but it's accuracy also starts getting much worse at that range anyway. even still, I can create artificial depth perception by comparing what a human's size would be at different distances to the target's size (if it turns out to be necessary). don't even start about laser range finders. there are several reasons not to use those. i would need one that interfaces with a computer and comes with drivers (which probably doesn't even exist). the percentage of time that laser would a; be on the actual target, b; be still, and c; have enough time to get a reading, are next to nothing.

know where I can find a LIDAR system like the ones used on autonomous vehicles in the DARPA challenge? a LIDAR could possibly be better sensor than a camera but I can't find them for sale anywhere.

Looking for the Aid of C# programmers

Jul 29, 2008

David

I have some new software abilities I want to implement but they're proving to be a little over my head.  if you're and experienced in C# and would like to help click 'Contact Me' up at the top and shoot me an email.

Version 6 is almost done.

Jul 13, 2008

David

This one can see in the dark :) For more details, visit the Project History page.

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