Laser Shooting Game

This laser game is a simple project that utilizes an Arduino mini. All target boards have an Arduino, sensors, and servo control ports. Shooting the target center triggers the servo and the board falls flat.

Step 1: Step 1:What You Need

Bill of material:
1. Shooting Target board PCB (attached gerber file)
2. Servo
3. Photo diode x 3
4. IR transmitter x 1
5. IR receiver x 1
6. 9014 NPN transistors x 3\
7. Pins and socket
8. Arduino Mini x 2
9. SMD components (Caps, resistors)
10. CD
11. Target board graphic (CD size)
12. Toy laser gun

Step 2: Step 2: Soldering

Assembly all components on the PCB.

Step 3: Step 3: Prepare the Target Board

Cut out the and stick it on the CD by glue
The diameter of the CD is 120 mm and the inner diameter is 15 mm.

Step 4: Step 4: Glue the PCB on Servo Arm

Use the hot glue gun to glue the assembled PCB on the servo arm.
Please reserved some space between the servo and the PCB. As the servo chassis may collide with the PCB during servo arm moment.

Step 5: Step 5: Stick the Target Board on the PCB

Use hot glue gun to glue the CD (target board) on PCB

Step 6: Step 6: Tidy Up the Cable

Connect the servo with the PCB.
Shorten the servo cable or tide the cable with string.
Please reserved some cable length for servo movement.

Step 7: Step 7: Upload the Firmware

1. Install the IR remote library and complie the arduino program
2. Upload the firmware to Arduino mini

Step 8: Step 8: Modify the Laser Gun

1. Open the laser gun
2. Cut out the PCB
3. Replace the PCB with Arduino Mini
4. Solder the power wire to Vin and GND
5. Solder the laser diode wire to Pin 3 and GND
6. Solder the sound trigger wire to Pin 13
7. Download the firmware to arduino mini

Step 9: Final Step: Make More Target Boards and Enjoy the Game

Comments

[curtabretske]

I only have phototransistors. How would the circuit be different? Omit the transistors? Thanks

[samchoy88]

The key of this circuit is the IR receiver which convert the ugly analog signal from photo transistor to digital signal.

[สนธิเดชภ]

I am interested in buying a kit that is.

[LukasH3]

where did you get the toy gun with the built-in laser from? I can only find IR solutions and I guess they won't work

[bsg68]

Would the arduino uno work too?

[samchoy88]

yes, it works on Arduino UNO too

[bsg68]

How much did all the materials cost

[samchoy88]

Around USD$25 ~ $30, but its relatively cheap in China region.
Depends on how you source materials.

Arduino and Servo are the most expensive stuff in the BOM.

[Armia Wagdy]

thanks for adding the updated schematic,,,, but i will be happy if you explain to me the function of the transistor and IR transmitter and receiver, an why did you use it instead of connecting the photodiodes on analog pins and using ADC functions you can know if the led is on the photodiode or not ? (btw i read all the comments but i still miss this point)

[samchoy88]

In this project, the main challenge is the environment light.
There are two possible light that make the target board false trigger or not function well.
1. Background light - it made the sensor output signal saturate and Arduino cannot receive significant signal and trigger the servo.
2. unexpected flash light - it give significant signal and it cause false trigger.

I found out TV remote did a good job on these problems and give reliable control / response. It gave me the solution of IR remote coding method.
However, IR transmitter usually give a wide angle of transmission. You can consider it is broadcasting the code. But I need a narrow angle or single point transmission to give gun shooting experience for the player. This is the reason why I choose laser instead of IR transmitter.

IR receiver has DC filter, AGC (Automatic Gain control) amplifier and stable digital output. It save me a lot of analog to digital components / design effort. However, the IR receiver does not response to RED laser signal. that is the reason why I need to use photo-diode to convert laser to IR transmitter.

In order to increase the sensor region, I choose to use multiple photo-diode to receive the signal. Those transistors act as the driver to deliver receive signal for IR transmitter.

I hope you can understand the circuit seem stupid and using "Laser --> photo-diode --> IR transmitter --> IR receiver --> Arduino". But it is worth to add 2 common components and save lots of time in avoiding complex coding / circuit.

[albaguzzi]

It's very interesting the "optical coupler" solution you adopted into the receiver circuit. Do you think possible to replace the 3 photo-diodes with a solar cell in order to obtain a larger target surface?

[samchoy88]

yes, it is possible to use solar cell to replace the photo diode and I think it probably work without any circuit change on circuit.

However, there are 2 concern while using solar cell as sensor.

1. The solar cell output may saturated when too much light shine on cell. And too weak signal deliver to circuit.

2. The solar cell may not sensitive to laser beam signal.

If you tested solar cell work well in this design, please kindly leave us the comment or video.

[ashwinzondag]

This is some great toy to play with :) Great Job.

Do you maybe have some component codes for the Photo diodes, the IR transmitter and the IR reciever?

With friendly greetings,

Ashwin Zondag

[samchoy88]

These components are common in the market, here are the reference:

IR receiver: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10266

IR emitter: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9349

Phototransistor: http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-3mm-ambient-l...

Sam

[sajoo_dk]

Hey folks i have made an uglier version of the same :) Instead of light sensor employed an LDR..check it out

Its looks crude as it was made in couple of hours..plz suggest improvements that i can employ

[Dandy_Don]

Nice instructable! How do you reset the targets after the game is finished?

[samchoy88]

It reset automatically after certain delay time.

[CristinaC1203]

Where can I find this gun or one like it?

[samchoy88]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/laser-pistol-set-electronic-target-shooting-gun-safe-Dartboard-game-IR-rifle-/251413551424?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item3a896a5940

[haunted.haunt]

So if I wanted to make something like GhostBlasters (http://sallycorp.com/dark-rides/interactive/ghostblasters/) or (http://youtu.be/jCPYlzXxpDA), how would I make it recognize when I hit something and relay that back to a main arduino running in the car?