Electronics Project

[can'tthink of1]

For an electronics project I was thinking of getting some cheap-@$$ e- spyder and making a custom board. I was told all you need is a 555 timer and some other stuff, but it was very vague, and I want to know if its possible, how simple it would be ( I just need it to fire a ball at 300fps and count every trigger pull), and what I would need to get.

THis is for an electric tech class and would be used for a project later in the year, so if you could keep it fairly basic, that would be great, also, schematic diagrams are a HUGE plus...

As always, thanks a ton guys.

[SteelSoul]

I tell ya what I read a story over on Warpig about making a board and how to write the code and everything
Let me go and look for it and I will post it here


SS

[SteelSoul]

Snap

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/electronics/basic_stamp/

Read this it has everything

I just want to say how much of a kewl site warpig.com is, I have been reading stuff there for over 4 years and I really trust there reports they do on new stuff.

[can'tthink of1]

If only that was step by step...

I was hoping that it wou;ld be the one on the 555timer, cause I really know nothing about prgraming boards and the "stamp board"

I will look at that article some more though, run it by my teacher, but I would really like something more simple lol.

[athomas]

Use a 555 timer IC or equivalent to control the firing duration and time between pulses. Use a counter IC to record the number of pulses. Any basic electronics book should have a schematic for those.

[Rokudon]

sorry but its slightly off topic... get one of those kellogs step counters, disect the body off, align the arm with the trigger (increase spring weight or soemthing to make it not miscount) and get a microswitch, solenoid, wire, and a battery. connect switch battery and solenoid, align solenoid to sear piece. DONE... sorry but thats my concept of an electro....(whats the specific point of a board anyway? burst shots? counters? ramping? bouncing? anyone try to bounce a mouse?)

[billmi]

I just want to say how much of a kewl site warpig.com is

Thanks Steel :-)



Re:555 timers

AKALMP originally tried to go that route with the electronics for the excalibur, because it would make software cheats impossible, and hardware cheats are detectable by physical examination of the board. They abandoned the idea when they saw how problematic it was.

The trouble is that TTL circuits like the 555 is that they derrive their timing from the charge rate of capacitors. The charging of the capacitors is controlled by resistors - variable resistors if you want to make the board adjustable. The trouble is that even the best, most expensive fixed resistors are only accurate within 1%. 15% error rate is more common (hence the need for adjustability.) Even worse, their resistance changes with temperatire. When timing a fast shooting paintgun, precision is important. Having to re-time your gun through the day as the sun warms things up, wouldn't be too slick.

As for step by step, I wrote the Basic Stamp article modularly - each circuit is a module, and they can be combined with the Stamp to build it up for a particular project (i.e. you'd want 2 mosfets for a dual solenoid gun, a single for a single solenoid gun.) I'd suggest also reading the other two articles in that series (http://www.warpig.com/paintball/tech...c_electronics/ http://www.warpig.com/paintball/tech...er/index.shtml). One is a how-to on soldering, and the other explains basic electronic theory. They were written largely as pre-study so that someone reading the Basic Stamp article would have the knowledge to apply its contents to develop a working board. I've gotten e-mail from folks who went from no electronics experience to building a working board, using those three articles.

[billmi]

sorry but its slightly off topic... get one of those kellogs step counters, disect the body off, align the arm with the trigger (increase spring weight or soemthing to make it not miscount) and get a microswitch, solenoid, wire, and a battery. connect switch battery and solenoid, align solenoid to sear piece. DONE... sorry but thats my concept of an electro....

Like this?

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/paintguns/ballcount/index.shtml

Talk about old school. I wrote that in late 1994 or '95. It was published in APG in '95, and went on the web either in late 95 or early 96. Radio Shack doesn't make that model pedometer anymore, but there are others available, and they work on the same principle - a weighted swinging arm. It's just a matter of finding the contacts of the arm and wiring a switch into them. I think Burger King or McDonalds was even giving pedometers away with one of their meal combos for a while this spring.

[jdefelic]

The Basic Stamp rout could be pretty simple for the Spyder. It would probably make the circuitry smaller (not to mention a lot more precise). The Spyder application would only require one solenoid to be controlled (similar to what I did below). I would defiantly recommend looking into the Basic Stamp idea more. It is very easy to learn, the code is pretty straight forward.

Off topic:

Billmi, thank you for the great Basic Stamp article. I stumbled upon that article late last year and I ended up buying a Basic Stamp and making a board for my Rainmaker. It's a very simple board consisting of just the Basic Stamp, a MOSFET, and a micro switch. But it works great; i even made a plug on the inside of the grip frame for the computer cable to still be plugged in so i can modify the code later on. The size of the board also gave me room to put the 9v in the grip frame, which really cleaned up the look of the Rainmaker a lot. It was a fun tinkering project. But anyway, thanks for the great article!! I also worked on a 'Cocker conversion, got the board to work but lacked the ability to make sear work with a solenoid (I finally just bought an E-Blade). Just wanted to express how much your article inspired and helped me. Thanks!


-John

[can'tthink of1]

I'm trying to figure out what I want to put this in, I could always get a spyder fairly easy...


I'm gonna take suggestions for now, cause I don't have a friggen clue where to start, we barely have done anything in the class so far, and I know very little...

[Rokudon]

Like this?

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/paintguns/ballcount/index.shtml

Talk about old school. I wrote that in late 1994 or '95. It was published in APG in '95, and went on the web either in late 95 or early 96. Radio Shack doesn't make that model pedometer anymore, but there are others available, and they work on the same principle - a weighted swinging arm. It's just a matter of finding the contacts of the arm and wiring a switch into them. I think Burger King or McDonalds was even giving pedometers away with one of their meal combos for a while this spring.

wow i did not know about that article... sorry for taking your idea then! otherwise, i think thats what i was getting at with the counter. but i still say all you need is a switch, solenoid, and wires for an electro...

[can'tthink of1]

But you still have to worry about dwell, and what voltage to run at, where the power after the 1st shot comes from that way you don't get electrical shootdown, its more complicated than you think, I might try that though lol.

[Rokudon]

um... what shootdown would you get? lol to my understanding (MY understanding....) the simpler the design, the less resistance overall. if you worry about voltage then get one matched to the battery's output... my thoughts though, i wouldnt know exactly

[athomas]

"Electrical shootdown" occurs at higher rates of fire when the output from the battery and/or circuit cannot keep up with the demand of the firing circuit (usually a solenoid). This where a more robust (and usually expensive) battery and circuit is separated from the cheaper clones on the market.

[buttrunks101]

I have a question bout the first link bout basic stamp it says you can buy a kit but from where or whom it doesnt say. I am not very knowledgebile on the electronic side of paintball guns but i woould like to make my own board. So any help in doing so would be nice sorry for kinda intruding in this topic but i didnt feel a new one was needed.Thx