I am working on a project to make an interactive nerf target that senses when it is hit and causes a led to change color. However I am trying to make the target only change color after it has been hit a set number of times (as if it has a number lives like a character in a video game). I don’t know what approach I should take or what products I could use to make this work.
I’m not sure if I am posting this question in the correct place. If anyone can give help or suggestions I would really appreciate it
It’s best to break a device concept into smaller parts. For example, in order to count target hits, it must first be able to detect a hit, indicate/communicate the hit to be counted, then prepare for the next. The resetting is not for granted; you don’t want to just pop balloons, knock down bottles, or have to go pull arrows out of a haybale or wipe down paintballs between rounds. Bowling would really suck if we had to set our own pins.
So then, begin by thinking of a technique that reliably detects target hits. I’m not familiar with Nerf ballistics but a flapper paddle hanging from a hinge might deflect enough to toggle a microswitch or similar. A light curtain could detect a passing projectile and a pair could determine some velocity data. I wonder if a contact microphone on a pie pan or something could be used to count impacts. Wait, why not an electronic drum head?!?
But I’d start by seeing what I could hack out of a used rec-room grade electronic dart board. It has a bunch of pressure pads in zones already designed for similar impacts. A lot depends on how big, how far, how many, the geometry of your game.
While using a camera to accomplish this is possible, I imagine it’ll be rife with frustrations (shadows, near misses, hits occurring between frames, dead zones from lacking line-of-sight, etc)
The above response is good advice…I think re-purposing things that already perform similar actions is going to be simpler/easier for something like this (the dart board in particular…you’d probably just need to lengthen the connections?).
By start, I meant toys OP could potentially start playing with this afternoon and thought of as an introduction, a demonstration of their pressure-pad technique. These dart machines are stacked high at thrifts and garage sales (I’d set a limit of $15) but aren’t ultra-well suited for whatever Nerf thingy is imagined without significant compromise and a bunch of hacking. It might not work out in the end but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
I’m still thinking about the drum targets from yesterday; Ask your doctor if Brow’s Nerf combat percussion full body fitness workout is right for you.