This demonstration video from Foam Data Services shows off the current Revision 2 module as it stands. It has an annoying firing action that we have a fix for, we're just waiting for the new prototype boards to arrive from the manufacturer.
As you can see, we've made the interface on the Rapidstrike variant as streamlined as possible. The interface stack is all within ready reach of the user's trigger finger and can be manipulated without removing your hand from the pistol grip. As left handed users ourselves, that's a little annoying but given the handed nature of the internals (due to the clam shell design) it's far more parsimonious to leave the interface on the right hand side. A lefty friendly version is possible but it will involve ribbon cables and our technical team crying.
We'll take you through a quick walk through of some of the nifty features and tricks that make this build really come to life. So you have the module itself, our in house version is currently fitted to our Rapidstrike test development mule in a big ugly black box. As you can probably see, there's a lot less vertical clearance in OldNoob's version, we've already managed to slim down the box and think we can go even further with it! Getting it flush is the aim but we'll take anything we can get. This blaster is a little dusty after combat testing at Green Cloaks Event 2 back in June. The interior has been thoroughly cleaned but the exterior has some left over to a little bit of 'character'.
Note the power switch tucked away in that little recess. That location was chosen to prevent you accidentally turning the module off during play. The volt meter is placed so you can get a decent read on it while holding the blaster and the grilles in the case are there for a 40mm north bridge fan. We've since been able to eliminate the need for a fan (slim line heat sinks and proper power management FTW!) and that's gone a long way to dropping the vertical ceiling of the case. We could readily substitute the grilles and volt meter for logos and text. Given that there are internal LEDs there by necessity, you could easily have light up text and logos on your module.
From this side, we can see the control stack. The first thing you ought to notice is that it's theoretically possible to eliminate the need for a lid all together and that's our ultimate goal. All of those controls are reachable with your trigger finger so you don't need to adjust the position of the blaster to fire in the event you want to change modes. The switch at the bottom of the stack is the select mode switch, it sends a pulse to the micro-controller which tells it to change mode and the LED at the top changes accordingly. In the photo above it's flashing red because the magazine inserted into the blaster is empty. The middle switch is the 'stealth mode' switch which allows you to run the blaster without any lights. This doesn't interfere with the operation of the module at all but of course, you will need to un-stealth in order to determine which mode you're in. Finally, the top LED is an 8mm through hole NeoPixel LED with 24bit colour, combine that with the micro-controller's onboard memory and you can get up to 400 controllable burst sizes with this prototype alone. Of course, you've got to find 400 readily differentiated colours in order to make that happen but hey, it's a possibility.
A view through the grilles begins to give you an idea as to why this isn't a user serviceable item, yet. All that wiring is just the start. Granted, the Reaper that OldNoob displayed in his video is much neater and hasn't been developed on but it's still not the friendliest thing in the world.
Remove the lid and you can see the beating heart of the system. The MOSFET in its TO-220 package are buried under wires on the left while the system's thriving brain, a Digistump Digispark is hidden in the bottom right under the JST plugs for the fan and voltmeter. The electrical tape, while an electrical sin in production builds, is a necessary part of the development process!
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| Single shot in blue |
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| 3 dart burst in green |
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| 5 round burst in white |
The three images above illustrate the three firing modes and their respective indicator LEDs. These colours were chosen to avoid problems with red/green colour blindness but of course, people would be welcome to alter the code to make things different colours as this will be an Open Source project (more later).
Dart sensing is done via simple IR photo-diode and LED. There is one here in the magazine well and another in the pusher mechanism. They provide a reliable (mostly) way of tracking the state of the blaster. That's a 3D printed insert for the photo-diode in the picture above and there is a mirrored version on the opposite side.
The red light is coming from an LED sitting above the pusher mechanism housing to the right of this picture. It's a standard feature in our RS builds these days and serves to protect your night vision when clearing jams in low light conditions. It's a handy reuse of the extant jam door switch.
So what's for the future? Well, I've already said we've got a fix for the annoying trigger action. The functionality there will allow us to add some new and other interesting on board sensing stuff in the future if we wanted to. Additionally, we're looking to internalise the interface as much as possible. Having a big box on the side isn't the world's best solution and we'd like to fix that. However without losing the collapsible stock, or taking up large amounts of space in the forward battery tray, there aren't a great deal of options.
Once we get to Revision 3, this project will be Open Source. We'll publish the schematics and parts list for public, non-commercial use so hobbyists and modders can make their own, remix it all and support the project with commits.
For the rest of us mere mortals, we'll be looking to crowd source the funding for deployment of a plug in version of the module including necessary regulatory clearance for sale in the EU and North America. That's our biggest sticking point at the moment, EMC test certification is awkward and expensive. More details on that will follow once we've got Revision 3 up, running and Open Source. Aim price point is £65 inc VAT but that may go up or down depending on how the process works out for us.
Both Revision 2 and 3 modules are cross compatible with the Stampede and Vulcan, too. The Rapidstrike is the much more technically challenging build because of the flywheel system and so there's plenty of backwards compatibility right there. We have a Stampede inbound that will get the full BF treatment and there will be photos when that's done.
So there you have it. The early days of the first Open Source hardware for an after market dart blaster product. We'd like to thank Foam Data Services for making this one possible, without them they wouldn't have been able to get this project out of our notebooks and into reality. We'd also like to thank the lovely folks at Trinity Games for providing us with a willing victim (or 80) to test this on at Green Cloaks Event 2. Without all of you, this wouldn't be possible. Onward, to getting this into the hands of our loyal fans!
