1. REMOTELY ACCESSIBLE TARGET SYSTEM Chad Ruttencutter & Peter Simon EET, CEAS, University of Cincinnati ABSTRACT Target shooting is a fun yet dangerous past time. The most dangerous and time consuming part of any long distance shooter’s day at the range is tending to their target. The most common setup used in long distance target shooting today is a paper target located hundreds of yards from the shooter. Even with the best optics, a target at this distance is difficult to analyze and time consuming to change. The solution to this problem is our Remotely Accessible Target System. This system provides the shooter a wireless connection between the target platform and a laptop computer. A custom graphical user interface shows up-to-date information on each shot, along with scoring, and group sizes. Not only will the platform be able to detect a shot and relay the image back to the user’s laptop, it will also hold numerous paper targets which can be advanced via a mouse click. These features provide the shooter with the ability to remain behind the firing line and never walk down range. INTRODUCTION The Remotely Accessible Target System is a complete system which allows marksmen to enjoy a safer, more leisurely shooting experience. The main objectives the system performs areto virtually eliminate the dangerous act of walking down range to change and/or view a target. This system also saves time by eliminating the need to manually change paper targets, as well as, performing analysis and calculations in milliseconds that would take the average shooter several minutes. TESTING APPROACH The majority of the development and testing was done in the workshop. The camera and stepper motor were calibrated, along with the analysis software in a controlled environment. During this process we tried to account for as many real life variables as possible. Later, field testing resulted in mixed results due to the dynamic lighting conditions. Our physical design was then modified to accommodate for these conditions with the addition of the light shade. Figure 2: Printed circuit board layout Figure 3: Printed circuit board schematic Figure 4: Microcontroller code BUDGET EFFORT The budget below illustrates the final cost of the Remotely Accessible Target System. This budget does not include the more that 700 hours of R&D, testing, and build time invested in the project. DESIGN REQUIREMENTS There are many required features that are included in the final design of the Remotely Accessible Target System. The system needed to perform all tasks that would otherwise be completed by a typical long distance shooter in a portable, yet user friendly device. These features, and many more, were accomplished using a mixture of custom hardware and software solutions. The constraints we considered were mainly from personal experiences. We both knew what types of ranges this system would typically be used at, and what functionality would not only be practical, but would be the most useful. From that knowledge we designed the system to have an operating distance of at least 300 yards, a bullet location resolution of less than 0.1 inches, a target size of 11.5 inches square, and a response time of less than 3 seconds. PROJECT RESULTS The final version of the Remotely Accessible Target System has exceeded most of the original design criteria. The system’s wireless communication has been tested to 300 yards and promises closer to 500 yards of range. The resolution has be shown to be approximately 0.045” with an accuracy of less than the intended 0.1”. The target size is currently 11.5 inches square. The system’s response time, which depends mostly on lighting conditions, currently averages about 1.5s per shot. This being said, the system is not yet perfect. The shot detect sensors are currently problematic due to system noise, and a database is likely to be added in the future. TECHNICAL APPROACH This block diagram shows a high-level flow of the project. Generally speaking, all of the events in the top half of the flow chart are controlled using a TI MSP430f2272 microcontroller. The remainder of the flow chart is controlled using a custom C# application ran on a laptop. The wireless link between the remote platform and the laptop computer was accomplished using an embedded Bluetooth module and USB Bluetooth dongle, both from Sena. Not shown here is the laser gun and servos added for the Tech Expo demonstration. R.A.T.S. @ 100yds Advisor: Professor Michael Haas Figure 1: Functionality flowchart Figure 5: Field testing Figure 6: Prototyping Figure 7: Field testing