The Seriously Ultimate Assault Rifle Build

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thatdecade said:
What is the cost difference between a small chip and a big chip, like $2? idk, I am not a PIC guy...



True that. I keep thinking in production quantities.... $2 more is a lot over a run of 10,000..... Not so much when you're making a few. :)





Thanks for the link, I'll check it out today.
 
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finnaly! a person that knows what he's doing, how hes doing it, AND knows what the hell hes talking about! im watching this topic, this is gonna be good.
 
Just upgraded the PIC to a 16F688. This will allow me to run serial commands to a sound chip or VMusic2 etc. It also allows for two solenoid outputs and the removal of the voltage divider for the magazine and bolt switches. Now they have their own inputs.



Plus I have two Input/Output pins left over for future use.





Also, does anyone know what the two green LED's on the side of the rifle, just near the display are for? I assume they are for statuses, but do they mean anything or do they just serve as decoration?



[EDIT] I might make them a battery indicator. Both green > 75%, one red, one green = 50%, both red < 25%.
 
I think they are just for decoration. At least the lights are on before you pick up the gun in game and never change or turn off while in use.



Are you going to use your PIC's a2d/comparator to do the battery monitor or a separate circuit / IC?
 
I was thinking of a stand alone circuit to make things simple, but I do have two spare I/O pins, it would mean less overall circuitry etc if I am able to use the PIC.



I'll look at incorporating it into the new PIC schematics today.











[EDIT]



And here it is. Two bi-colour LED's per side, Two outputs with darlingon paired transistors for the solenoids, output for the strobe, 3 inputs for fire, magazine and the bolt, and serial or 4 discreet outputs for the sound module.

The actual voltage measurement is done with the voltage divider on pin 2. I'll program it so when the rifle is being charged (Ie. voltage is above 13V or so) it will flash the LED's.



I'll probably go with a sound recorder chip with discreet inputs to generate the sound. That way I can chop the sound up like so.





- Fire - Just the actual concussion sound of the actual firing, with the eject sound mixed in.

- Pin slide sound + fire - just used at the start of the firing for continuity of the clip.

- Eject/Reload chamber - played at the end of the firing sequence (when you lift your finger off the trigger).

- Spare. (empty chamber firing sound?)



I have 4 outputs for the sound effects, so the PIC can select what sounds will be played on the fly. Each of the four possible sound clips will be assigned to one of the outputs, so the PIC just pulses the respective output to tell the sound recorder chip how to generate the final sound.



As follows:



- Single shot: Pin sliding sound + fire > Eject/Reload chamber

- Auto: Pin sliding sound + fire > Fire 2 > Fire 2 > Fire 2 > ......... > Eject/Reload chamber



Does the rifle have an empty chamber sound, ie a sound that's played when you try to fire a gun with no ammo? I'll add that to the spare slot if it does.





That's as far as I have got so far. :)



Programming this will be interesting... I have NO programming experience outside of BASIC from 15 years ago plus a bit of HTML...... I'll have to get the help of one of the programmers here at work.



AmmoCounterV3.png
 
Yay! Voltage divider vs internal reference voltage! lol



Help me wrap my head around your schematic and the LEDs. I see the four dual color LEDs, but how is the PIC controlling them through a 5K? How they are drawn is not how I know them. Normally dual color LEDs have a common wire (Ex: common cathode), they are not connected in series. Each side of the LED requires it's own resister.



You lost me talking about the sound mixing too, ha. Been awhile since my DSP days, but I am more interested how you are going to separate out those different clips of sounds when recording from the game.



To answer your question, yes, there is a no ammo sound.
 
I just put 5k as a place holder. I haven't worked out the correct value yet...



I can get dual colour LED's like as shown, but I was just informed by the guru at work that I need to order 1000 at a cost of $60 (wish he told me earlier...). I'll redesign the circuit to use the type where reversing polarity will change the colour.

You hold one side of the LED at 2.5V and by driving the output high or low (0V or +5V) you can control the direction of current flow and hence which colour is illuminated, leaving the output floating will turn the LED's off. I'll probably add in a funky little constant current source to make things nice and happy for the LED's.





The way shown above is basically the same idea. By driving the output high or low will mean the respective LED will illuminate as the other LED will effectively be removed from the circuit (same potential on both sides). My diagram just sucks a little and the LED's are too hard to get..







To separate the sounds, I'll just chop up the .WAV's with something like Adobe Encore or the like. It'll allow me to pre-process them for the best quality etc.













[EDIT]



Just stuffing around with LED drivers. I'm probably going to use the second one with the opamp. Mainly because it is more efficient, has the ability to control brightness (once the correct brightness is found, the pot can be replaced with fixed resistors if desired), and also due to the fact we use this design in production, so it's field tested and I know it works well.



They both work in basically the same way. The first circuit basically copies the output inside the PIC with the transistors to increase the current available for the LED's, however, the voltage divider is wasteful when using a battery and the totem pole arrangement with the transistors isn't that elegant.



The second one works by basically using a feedback loop and comparing it to the input you set. The pot is generally a 1 meg pot, so there is little power wasted.



They both present about 2.5V to one side of the LED, and the PIC will either sink or source 0v or +5v respectively to switch one or other of the colours on. When the I/O pin is left tristate or as an input etc, the LED's turn off.





What do you think?





LEDDrivers.png
 
Neat idea. I agree that a voltage divider wouldn't be effective because the resister values would have to be low enough to power the LEDs.



Your drawing controls the LEDs with 1 IO, can you spare a second? You could output b10 for red and output b01 for green. Then you wouldn't need the extra opamp.
 
I want to drive two bi-colour LED's to match the two green lights on the gun (four LED's ganged together to two, two LED's for each side of the gun), but without upgrading the PIC (again...), I've only got two outputs for the LED's. Every other I/O pin is accounted for.



I should be able to get a suitable dual op-amp package though, so it shouldn't work out too bad hopefully.



I just have to work out component values and double check everything will work fine, then it should be good to prototype the micro controller PCB. That will be next weeks job.
 
I've been looking at some close-up shots of the Assault rifle, and I'm wondering what some of the bits and pieces are.



First is what I believe to be the safety. (no. 1)

Second is what I assume to be something for reloading maybe?? Not sure. (no. 2)



And finally, there is a button on both sides that appears to have a magnifying glass shaped logo on it. Could this be for the torch or power?







Parts01.jpg


Parts02.jpg
 
I am definitely watching this topic. Some real good set of information in here. You better go through this till the end :angry
 
Information overload, i am still picking up peices of my head, that just exploded.



Great work guys, and looking forward to see what this turms out like.



Cheers, Dave.



P.S is it possible to have a realistic (LOUD) gun shot sound via a sound board. Or something... (I've got no idea what i am talking about, but humour me.)
 
I am hoping to include something like that, but the actual volume is a limitation of what speaker we can fit in the thing. The problem with getting that characteristic deep 'crack' sound of a rifle is we either need a BIG speaker to get the volume, or something else that can simulate the sound of a small explosion.

I'll do my best to work something out though. It'll probably have a 1 watt amp or so (quite powerful for this application) to get something that can be heard in a con setting.



I'm also toying with the idea of making the magazine it's own little speaker box. Depending on what I can fit in the gun.





Metalfr3q is prototyping a basic assault rifle pep so we can figure out what shapes need to be cut from MDF and aluminium, and next weekend we will hopefully get a full size mockup made to work out how we are going to fit all this stuff inside....



Next week I'll be buying a heap of stuff (enough for two guns, one for me and one for metalfr3q) so I'll keep updating with the progress.
 
Do the CRACK sound the same way pinball machines do it, with a knocker. You could build it in with one of your existing solenoids. Just have a striker plate nearby, plastic or metal.



#1 is definite the safety

#2 I think is for mounting (like on your back)

#3 no clue, I haven't noticed before but I agree with your conclusion.



Edit: I looked at your sch again and you may have some extra IOs. On my sword, I only used the TX output to command the VMUSIC2. I have the RX connected in my schematic, but didn't need it. Sword Circuit Diagram
 
No 1 is safety as you say, for sure. I'll wire it in series with the trigger to act as a cut-off.

No 2 looks a bit small for holding a 4kg firearm to your back? I was thinking it has something to do with the action. More research is required.....

No 3 is interesting how it has the logo that looks like a magnifying glass. The bigger illuminated button has a generic 'power' symbol on it. I'll make the smaller one for power and the larger one for the torch, as it's more easily accessible.
 
TERRA Operative said:
... No 3 is interesting how it has the logo that looks like a magnifying glass. The bigger illuminated button has a generic 'power' symbol on it. It's confusing me....



I think that's a small Marathon logo like this:

marathonlogo.jpg


There's another larger one on the buttplate of the AR too from memory (or is that the BR?)
 
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True, that makes sense. The logo is at the top of the butt plate on the MA5C.





Now to figure out what the No 2 piece is. It's been modeled in 3D, so it must be for something (even if it's use isn't shown)......
 
Thanks, i'll be watching carefully.



@terr operative.



The speaker idea sounds complex and probably above my level of electricity working. but i shall be waitching in any case. Thanks for input.



@ thatdecade.



Would a knocker work if you wanted a fully automatic sound, or would i only be a 1 shot type thing?



Cheers, Dave.
 
@XxCALIBERxX The rate of fire wouldn't be a problem, increased fire rate would just need more strengthening between the solenoid and plate. The speed of the strike, plate material, and the size of the plate are much more important to the pitch of the sound created.



Using a speaker for crazy loud sound effects isn't all that hard either. You don't even need a super sized speaker, just a good resonation chamber to amplify the sound.
 
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