Automatic Target Project

[Cones]

I did find these rated at 10Kg/cm http://www.servoshop.co.uk/index.php...S04&area=Servo

For £13 each.

They would probably be pretty good. But are going to need bolting down well.

HTH

Mark

[eggplant]

bah ! Ive been conned ! Thought I was getting a good deal !

Thanks tho, will come in handy no doubt.

Calv

[Fred]

Hi,

I'll do a vid in a bit.

The servo part maybe I havnt explained well. Imagine a motor - you apply power to it and it turns. Attatch something to the end of it and that turns round and round too. A servo is a bit different, it does contain a motor but simply applying power to it wouldnt do anything. IT also contains other gubbins that allow it to move to a fairly precise position (think model car steering or plane controls, has to be quite precise else it would all end in tears lol). A servo has to recieve a series of signals if you like to make it go to the position you want it to, in my example photos you can see it moves about 90 degrees or so (I think!) to pull the target down. Someone or something needs to tell the servo what position it has to move to, the stuff inside the servo works out the position, so you (or the controller to be more precise) says "go to 45 degree position) and off it goes to that position, you then tell it to go to say 80 degrees, and off it goes, same position every time you tell it. The "problem" is telling the servo whatposition it needs to go to, this is where the controller part comes in. The board Mark used needs programming, as does the one I use - not too hard but of course anything is difficult if you dont know how, and anything is easy if you do !. That is why I suggested a radio control system, although the controls are variable (think steering, left and right - or up and down in our case) it isnt hard to rip out the contents of a radio control transmitter and stick the insides in a box replacing the controls with buttons - would need to solder a few wires thats all. 90 degree movement would be easist to do.
The boards Mark and I use are much more versatile as we can accurately tell the servo what position to go to, when to go there, and how fast even (within the speed capabilities of the servo) and we can of course also program any time delays etc. Its a pity you dont live nearer, we could have probably got one going by now !
Hope that explains the servo a bit better, vid will be here soon. And Im not geting annoyed !

Calv

Hi Calv,

Thanks once again!

So if I used radio control remote (say 7 channel just for now) I would be able to control all 7 targets separetly by the controller. Is that correct?

If the above is correct. What would I be able to make them do? (EG come up, go down. etc)

I will have to think of a way/system to bring the knockdown back up.

Thanks a lot.

Fred

[Fred]

I did find these rated at 10Kg/cm http://www.servoshop.co.uk/index.php...S04&area=Servo

For £13 each.

They would probably be pretty good. But are going to need bolting down well.

HTH

Mark

Hi Mark,

Would they be suitable for what I would want them to do?

Also, what other parts would I need? Would I need a circuit board?

I am assuming the circuit board controls everything, maybe sensing that the target is down and telling the servo to put it back up?

Thanks,

Fred

Th

[Fred]

Hi Fred,

I will try and explain it a little more.

This is my servo and its controller in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-IM87imTGY

The bit about programming the servo is really about programming that little electronics board it is connected to.

The board is set to move the servo to a programmed position when the micro switch is closed after a preset delay.

The code to do this is shown in post three of this thread. But all it is, is a set of instructions of what to do to the servos position and in what order.

The control board is flexible in that it can be effectively rewired by just changing the control program that I write on the computer using the supplied software and then load into it with a USB cable.

It is a bit like programming your video to record something, but with movements of the servo instead of the time.

The controller has six channels than can be used as servo outputs or as switch inputs. You can buy bigger boards that will do 18 channels, then you could have multiple servos and multiple switches, or push buttons to reset All the targets together or whatever you want.

The normal £12 servos only produce 4kg of pull at 1cm distance from the centre of the shaft. So it is not strong enough to work with a standard Nockover target. You would need a lighter plate for it to be able to lift it. Stronger servos get a lot more expensive quickly.

I wanted the target to be similar to the one shown at the start of this thread or something along the lines or a row of silhouettes.

Just ask away if we can explain a bit more.

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for that. I am starting to understand it more and more.

So what parts would I need to make the whole thing work (Obviously I will have to think of a way to bring the target back up)?

THanks

[eggplant]

So if I used radio control remote (say 7 channel just for now) I would be able to control all 7 targets separetly by the controller. Is that correct?

If the above is correct. What would I be able to make them do? (EG come up, go down. etc)

ok, take a look at this pic of a radio control set. Consists of a transmitter (top pic) receiver (bottom left). The servo(s) plug straight into the reciever and are operated by the controls on the transmitter. Imagine Marks or my demo of moving servos but instead of Marks button, or my controller making the servos move, you are pushing the sticks on the radio transmitter. Thats about it. As long as you can figure out how to make your targets go up and down from a servo with whatever linkages you need then it should work. Note that some radio control sets run into £1000's - all digital etc with many features that are used for flying planes/helicopters etc - obviously not needed here. Maybe a 2nd hand 2 chanel would be a better starting point then progress from there. A visit to a local model shop maybe and see if they have any used ones. Just a thought, how much hassle would it be running them from cables ?

[Rob M]

I don't get why a servo and controller is necessary... Local electronics hobby shops sell motors, gears, geared motors, reed switches, micro switches. With a little thought and a reasonable amount of metalworking skill it shouldn't be difficult to make a simple, self-resetting electric target. I would have done it before now if I wasn't so damn busy!

[Cones]

I don't get why a servo and controller is necessary... Local electronics hobby shops sell motors, gears, geared motors, reed switches, micro switches. With a little thought and a reasonable amount of metalworking skill it shouldn't be difficult to make a simple, self-resetting electric target. I would have done it before now if I wasn't so damn busy!

I think it can be done for less cost and more time building the thing like you suggest. Where it falls down (Excuse the pun ) is when you want to alter the timing or have them operate in sequence or such. I'd rather spend £30 or so on a servo and controller than £10 on gears and motors and not know how to fix it all together. I think I am looking at the bigger picture of getting several targets to work together in a controlled sequence. But then I am biased as I work on industrial control systems for a living!

Lets face it there is nothing wrong with the string on the standard Nockover, but fully automated targets is a fun project.

Thanks

Mark

[Fred]

ok, take a look at this pic of a radio control set. Consists of a transmitter (top pic) receiver (bottom left). The servo(s) plug straight into the reciever and are operated by the controls on the transmitter. Imagine Marks or my demo of moving servos but instead of Marks button, or my controller making the servos move, you are pushing the sticks on the radio transmitter. Thats about it. As long as you can figure out how to make your targets go up and down from a servo with whatever linkages you need then it should work. Note that some radio control sets run into £1000's - all digital etc with many features that are used for flying planes/helicopters etc - obviously not needed here. Maybe a 2nd hand 2 chanel would be a better starting point then progress from there. A visit to a local model shop maybe and see if they have any used ones. Just a thought, how much hassle would it be running them from cables ?

What picture?

I see now, Thanks for explaining.

Fred

[Fred]

I don't get why a servo and controller is necessary... Local electronics hobby shops sell motors, gears, geared motors, reed switches, micro switches. With a little thought and a reasonable amount of metalworking skill it shouldn't be difficult to make a simple, self-resetting electric target. I would have done it before now if I wasn't so damn busy!

Well if you have any ideas on how to use the above to make an automatic target, please post on this thread!

[Fred]

I think it can be done for less cost and more time building the thing like you suggest. Where it falls down (Excuse the pun ) is when you want to alter the timing or have them operate in sequence or such. I'd rather spend £30 or so on a servo and controller than £10 on gears and motors and not know how to fix it all together. I think I am looking at the bigger picture of getting several targets to work together in a controlled sequence. But then I am biased as I work on industrial control systems for a living!

Lets face it there is nothing wrong with the string on the standard Nockover, but fully automated targets is a fun project.

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark,

Would using a motor/parts like Rob said be easier to set up?

I think Mark's option is better as he said you could set them all up together, and possibly control them separetly.

I totally agree with you about the string, there is nothing wrong with it but it would be cool to have automatic targets!

Thanks,

Fred

[eggplant]

oops, forgot pic, it was just of a radio control unit.

Im with Mark on the servo front, much more versatile IMO than motors and gears. and probably easier to make a target go up and down with a servo but of course there are loads of ways to achive what we are trying to do.

[Cones]

A bit more progress today (Not by me) as Chris has now had chance to design some metalwork around my servo and controller.

Here is the result. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1jOvtlkv7I

A fully self resetting falling plate target.

We get to shoot at it this afternoon.

I'll get some video of it in use.

Thanks

Mark

[eggplant]

Been working on my one too. The prototype was on so I started on a new larger one. Working fine as you can see in the vid. I have changed the target for now to a normal target which can move to any position and raise or lower any time and can stay of for however long - 2 secs for each one in the video.
I am making the tray bit with the servo and target in removable so I can just make a new tray with knock down targets or whatever and just swap over when I want. Its fine as it is now but needs the shaft that supports the target refining as part of a pen and some polymorph isnt ideal ! The tray is not 100% level as you will see, this is because I want to add a sort of rail at the bottom and a wheel or bearing on the bottom of the tray (where you can see a lump of white polymorph) as there is quite a bit of friction and this slows the motor down a bit. Because of this. when the target is in the down position, it is still slightly angled up, once the front of the tras is level, the target will obviously be further down. A piece of steel or whatever right accross the front will then hide the target when it is down.
Plenty more ideas in my head whcih I will share once I get it tidied up a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CILImeb_Mgo

[Cones]

Another update.

Chris brought the target up to the club today. But we had a problem with the control board.

It refused to operate unless it was connected to the laptop as well as the battery. But I said not to worry as I had bought two and would fit the spare one when I got in.

So this is the finished target with the new board and the reset time now set to 1 second.

I left it on cycle for an entire hour and it works perfectly each time.

This is the revised video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLEGV8HCels

We have to now wait till Wednesday evening to shoot at it.

Thanks

Mark