Dumping firmware/software...and/or reflashing??

bag06a:
Still plan on sharing this with the world and not shutting me out when its done?

No, now I have it and it's mine! ] j/k

Of course! At the moment things are a mess, but you're more than welcome to have a look. I'm programming in the Atmel AVR studio, but things should transfer easily to Arduino if you choose. I'll paste the code at the end of this post.

bag06a:
...what are the things I'll need when I am able to program this on my own?

You will need an ISP, software that works with the ISP, some jumper wire, code (and/or binary file from me), and really steady hands. I bought an AVRISP mkII because I was concerned that I wouldn't get another ISP to work. On hand, I had a cheap USBasp ISP and an Arduino. I was able to get both the Arduino and the mkII to work. No luck with the generic USBasp.

I'll post better instructions once I build a proper forum for it. Perhaps I'll start a blog on it.

#include <avr/io.h>
#define F_CPU 8000000UL
#include <util/delay.h>

#define HIGH 1
#define LOW 0

int BALLS_PER_SECOND;
int ROUND_DELAY; // delay between shots in ms
int DEBOUNCE;  // Debounce in ms

void initialize() {
	BALLS_PER_SECOND = 30;
	DEBOUNCE = 8;
	ROUND_DELAY = (1000 - DEBOUNCE) / BALLS_PER_SECOND;
}

void delay_ms( int ms ){
	for (int i = 0; i < ms; i++) {
		_delay_ms(1);
	}
}

int getPinMask(int pinNumber) {
	if (pinNumber == 2) {
		return (1 << 0);
	} else if (pinNumber == 3) {
		return (1 << 1);
	} else if (pinNumber == 4) {
		return (1 << 3);
	} else if (pinNumber == 5) {
		return (1 << 2);
	} else if (pinNumber == 6) {
		return (1 << 7);
	} else if (pinNumber == 7) {
		return (1 << 6);
	} else if (pinNumber == 8) {
		return (1 << 5);
	} else if (pinNumber == 9) {
		return (1 << 4);
	} else if (pinNumber == 10) {
		return (1 << 3);
	} else if (pinNumber == 11) {
		return (1 << 2);
	} else if (pinNumber == 12) {
		return (1 << 1);
	} else if (pinNumber == 13) {
		return (1 << 0);
	}
	
	return 0;
}

void setInputPin(int pinNumber) {
	if (pinNumber >= 2 && pinNumber <= 5) {
		DDRB &= ~(getPinMask(pinNumber));
	} else if (pinNumber >=6 && pinNumber <= 13) {
		DDRA &= ~(getPinMask(pinNumber));
	}
}

void setOutputPin(int pinNumber) {
	if (pinNumber >= 2 && pinNumber <= 5) {
		DDRB |= (getPinMask(pinNumber));
	} else if (pinNumber >= 6 && pinNumber <= 13) {
		DDRA |= (getPinMask(pinNumber));
	}
}

void pinOutput(int pinNumber, int state) {
	if (pinNumber >= 2 && pinNumber <= 5) {
		if (state == HIGH) {
			PORTB |= (getPinMask(pinNumber));
		} else {
			PORTB &= ~(getPinMask(pinNumber));
		}
	} else if (pinNumber >= 6 && pinNumber <= 13) {
		if (state == HIGH) {
			PORTA |= (getPinMask(pinNumber));
		} else {
			PORTA &= ~(getPinMask(pinNumber));
		}
	}
}

int pinHasInput(int pinNumber) {
	if (pinNumber >= 2 && pinNumber <= 5) {
		return (PINB & (getPinMask(pinNumber))) <= 0;
	} else if (pinNumber >= 6 && pinNumber <= 13) {
		return (PINA & (getPinMask(pinNumber))) <= 0;
	} else {
		return 0;
	}
}

void threeRoundBurst() {
	for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
		pinOutput(6, HIGH);
		delay_ms(DEBOUNCE);
		pinOutput(6, LOW);
				
		// don't delay on the last round
		if (i < 2) {
			delay_ms(ROUND_DELAY);
		}
	}
}

void fullAuto() {
	while (pinHasInput(7)) {
		pinOutput(6, HIGH);
		delay_ms(DEBOUNCE);
		pinOutput(6, LOW);
		delay_ms(ROUND_DELAY);
	}	
}

int main (void) {
	
	initialize();
	
	setOutputPin(12);
	setOutputPin(11);
	setInputPin(7);
	setInputPin(5);
	setOutputPin(6);
	setInputPin(3);
	
	////////////////////////////////////
	// Enable pull up on trigger inputs
	////////////////////////////////////
	
	// Trigger
	pinOutput(5, HIGH);
	pinOutput(7, HIGH);
	
	pinOutput(3, HIGH);
	pinOutput(13, HIGH);
	pinOutput(10, HIGH);
	pinOutput(9, LOW);
	pinOutput(8, LOW);
	pinOutput(12, LOW);
	
	// turn on green LED
	pinOutput(11, HIGH);
	
	while(1) {
		if (!pinHasInput(7)) {
			
			delay_ms(DEBOUNCE);
			while (!pinHasInput(7)) {
				// NOOP
			}
			
			// Fire!
			//threeRoundBurst();
			fullAuto();
		}		
	}
	return 1;
}