Home Work
The challenge this week is to make a plan and describe our final project. This is a good idea : it force you to organize your project step by step , and to be more pragmatic about the scope ..
Who's done what beforehand?
Well, at the begining of the fabacademy, I though there was only expansiv comercial solution used in the army for training or in the "Lazertag" game area . But it was really not true , many many people has worked in this area, some as a proof of concept, other as DIY business.
The main are :
what materials and components will be required?
The comon compnent are : Atmel 328, regulador, 16Mhz cristal , conectors, resistors, condensador, trasnistors,battery AA pack, cable, buzzer, pushbuttons.
The specific component needed are :
- an IR led ,with small angle of emission
- an optical lens in order to focus the IR beam, giving precision and range to the shot
- some IR sensor
- a transparent dome to protect the IR sensor of the shocks
where will they come from?
- 80% of the components are coming form the Fab Inventory
- then the rest are coming from Digikeys and Mouser.
- The lens is coming from a french online store for optical education , Ovio Optics
- The body will be 3D printed
how much will it cost?
It should cost around 20/25€, and 10 more when the armband will be ready .
what parts and systems will be made?
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All the electronic will be made, and the related code. We just use an IR sensor including a demodulate funccion : the TSSp4P38
- The body will be modeled in Rhino , and then printed on a ultimaker 1 .
(That's funny how the firt part of this sentence is fast to read, but I will probably suffer 3 day or more to have something more or less in beta vesion..)
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I wanted to cast the lens, but it seem this is not a good idea to have precision.
what tasks need to be completed?
The key point task are :
- building a prototype version using breadboard (due 21/5)
- making a first version of the code focused in testing sending datas through IR ( due 23/5)
- testing outside , and adjusting power , lens position , number of repetition of the datas sended ( due 26/5)
- validate a final version , and sarting schematics(due 27/5)
- make 2 first board and testing it outside (due 29/6)
- designing and printing body (due 3/6)
what questions need to be answered?
The main question is : Why I've selected this idea as a final project ?? Is it only pure unconsciousness?
Practical questions to be answered are :
- is it working and reliable to use the serial to pass data through the IR ?
- how dealing with datas lost, or errors during the IR transmision ?
- to increase range, is it better to multiplicate IR emisors, o to use a lens like I choose ?
what is the schedule?
The timing is to have a first version of the FunGun working for the 4th of june :
- under the sun thank's to a modulate IR beam
- at a 30m range
- with amunition and life counters working
- and a basic body in PLA
Not sure the leds digits will be working , neither the way to choose your team and player number at the beginning ...
End of june, I should have the head-armband ready , connected by a spining RJ11 wire to the gun .
how will it be evaluated?
Well the best proof it work are my kids : if they invite their friends to play with the Fungun, we've succeed !