The Sentry Project

Oct 26^th, 2008

I was getting really tired of dealing with the persistent shaking problems in these recent versions so I based this one off of version 5, which didn't have that issue. I took the rigidity of ver. 5, the swept-back turret design from ver. 8, the case from ver. 7, designed a four dollar, rain/impact resistant camera enclosure, and came up with this...thing. I wouldn't call it pretty but it's design makes a hell of a lot more sense in all the other areas. Not only that, it's more flexible to things like different sized laptop cases and different sized guns. The pictures are in sequential order to illustrate how it deploys.

Improvements:

Smaller size
Stiff, solid frame
New, less expensive ($4) waterproof camera enclosure with much easier camera access
Very little modification was needed for rain/paintball-proofing
This design does not require the gun to be small enough to fit in any enclose like the previous version
Less expensive in both labor and parts!

Flaws:

Nothing major, so far.

8th Version

Oct 5^th, 2008

Came up with the idea to use an ATX case as the case that houses everything when it's packed up. The case was $100 which is about the same amount I would've spent building it from scratch anyway. The gun platform mounts quickly without the need for tools. The laptop folds out on a hinged platform that also has the wiring and other electronics mounted on it. The camera is mounted in the uppermost part of the front face and is protected from paintball hits. Rain proofing will not be difficult but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Improvements:

Appearance
Smaller footprint
Gun platform is powered by it's own 7.2v NiCD doubling the overall system's battery life.
Protected camera.
Simpler deployment.

Flaws:

Shaking. Too much modification required to stiffen the flimsy case.

7th Version

Aug 17^th, 2008

This one weighs around 10 lbs and is a significant improvement in all categories. It's smaller, lighter, cheaper and quicker than the other versions. The software has been improved too (mainly targeting). (The 6th version, by the way, was a dud. the only improvement it offered was the ability to easily switch out guns. Everything else about it was worse.) It cost about $500 for everything you see in the picture and took about 4 days to make.

Improvements:

Easy gun swapping
Very light, all aluminum construction.
Simpler construction
Small 18x13x5 size
Much more portable
Aiming is better with the camera centered on the x axis as close to the barrel as possible.

Flaws:

So light that the gun movement shakes the whole thing resulting in false movement detected.

6th Version

July 11^th, 2008

Improvements:

Ability to quickly mount any gun with a pistol grip tightly and securely.

Flaws:

Way too heavy for the servos.
Analog to digital video converter is junk and doesn't produce a smooth framerate.
Analog camera has a poor res compared to a webcam limiting range.
tripod legs should not have met at one point. this allowed for shaking of the camera.

5th Version

March 25^th, 2008

Improvements:

Laptop was moved all the way forward.
Right support arm was found to be unnecessary and was removed.
2:1 servo gear reduction improved response time and torque.
An Ion paintball replaced the Airsoft pistol.

Flaws:

Weight at 67lbs.
Accuracy at any range other than the one it was calibrated at was low dues to the camera being far from the X and Y axis pivot points.

Watch the video. Screenshots are posted below: