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[on:]

I would like to put some outdoor laser tag guns together and based on what I am reading I believe I could use these boards.  I currently have some laser tag guns that use sensors that the players wear on their head and when they are shot at and hit they light up.  However, my question is it would be nice to not have to worry about the sensors at all.  Can I place a sensor on the actual laser gun and maybe a few on the hats that are wireless?  That way we don't have a long cord that is attached from the laser gun to the players head/hat?  Also, which board would be my best option to use for the laser tag world?  I would like to have it hooked up to an LCD screen on the side of the laser gun that displays lives, ammo, hit points, when they have shot someone and when they have been shot and by who.  It would also be really cool to actually be able to get the statistics after the missions (games) are played and print them for the players.  Would that be possible without hooking every gun up?  Maybe have just a referree gun that all the statistics transmit the information too and then that one gun is plugged in and then the statistics print?  Please help and direct me on which board and parts that I would need.  Thanks sooooo much, I appreciate anyones help that has knowledge in this area.  Tanya

[Reply #1 on:]

Everything you want to do is feasible but quite complicated.

You can have a wireless link between the gun and the hat, but the hat would need its own power supply.  It'd be simpler to think of a decent way to integrate the wire.  Perhaps you could have some 'body armour' type thing which straps on over the person's clothes, including over the arms.  It wouldn't have to be very substantial but it would allow you to run a cable from the wrist to the back of the neck.  You could then clip the hat and gun on, and it wouldn't be as obtrusive as a large cable going directly from the hat to the gun.

Getting the gun to display lives, ammo etc wouldn't be a problem.  You could add vibrate, sound etc but it'd cost you in terms of battery life.

As for the actual firing mechanism, I believe 'laserquest' uses a laser for effect and actually uses infrared for scoring a hit.  It means that you don't have to be quite as accurate as with a laser.

[Reply #2 on:]

Orlando, the idea is great, just like Lasershots but DIY.
Let's break by parts:
1) the gun, that part isn't complicated as you have plenty space and a rigid body.

2) the sensors, see if you can find lasershots pictures, they use a semi-rigid vest(no helmet, it complicates matters a lot) that has two lights on each shoulder and he battery pack on the back, sensors in the back, the chest and above shoulders.

in Lasershots, gun also has a sensor and a HAND sensor(IR bounce) below the front barrel guard that forces you to hold the gun in both hands or it doesn't fire(to prevent smartasss players from using their off hand to cover sensors) and connects with a cable to the vest back.
The "fire" is done with a visible red laser, but that's only for aesthetics purposes, below the laser there's a IR LED/laser and THAT is the real "bullet"(in which you can also encode the vest ID for stats tracking if you wish)

Of course you can make the gun independent, but that adds another battery to manage... more weight... another couple wireless modules, more cost, etc
If you can go that way with the design it simplifies things.

For wireless, simplest is Xbee, next you have bluetooth that has long range but is more expensive, there are lots of really small modules and some shields for xbee and BT(there's an Arduino Bt as well)

Expanding the idea a little, you could have a central command to monitor ALL players(since you use RF, you can remotely enable/disable all vests at game start/end, collect statistics to be printed out for players -players love those things-, even "awards" for special feats at an extra price -more income for you, more engagement for the players-)

the sky is the limit, and the power consumption as well!