AEG Shot counter System (New Design)

[spidermax]

Hello All 

 

I have come for some input and brain picking on this one.

 

I have seen the Xcoretech 3300W and seen one or two other type counters(no others I can see in full production)

 

I decided it was time that i wanted one but have also seen that there seems to be a good market for this.

I saw a thread on here regarding the xcoretech one found here and found that it looks like it was made they started selling it and no one has spoken to other airsofters to find out what users would like from the unit.

 

What i have so Far-

 

Working shot count in a PEQ box

2 digit 7 segment counter

Counts Up and Down.

Mag ammo set via dial (can also do this of a button but found a dial much faster)

Short flash hider with a optical sensor and a muzzle flash generator like the Incentive designs stand alone unit.(think the end model wont have muzzle flash)

At the moment the two units are hard wired but will be Wireless.

 

 

(Pics soon and web site under construction at the moment.)

 

Whats to come next.

 

-4 Digit display (might use OLED LCD)

-Wireless connection (a must)

-Need to design a PEQ box to accommodate the unit. (a must)

-Silencer Tracer unit with Chrono (will have the option of full unit with chrono and tracer or just counter)(2 prices)

-Mosfet system (yet again two types one plug in and one hard wire)

-work in a volt detection for battery.(a must)

-I think the stop on Empty feature would be nice.

-Input options for the unit (with wire instructions ) so that you could link to a switch to detect the mag if you wanted or a reset button on the mag well.

 

I think there will be 2-3 case options.

2 pellet detection options 

2 mosfet options.

 

Right what feed back features and functions do people want to see?

[spidermax]

Site is still being built but thought i would put a pic up of the very first proto type.

Currently working on the mosfet and its programming.

 

[Stuey]

Congrats for actually building something, I've been saying I'll get round to doing something like this for years. What hardware you got in there?

[spidermax]

Arduino Uno in this one but having  board made with a PIC controller.

 

Ive seen a lot of people wanting to make them and not getting arround to it and after a motor bike accident 3 weeks ago leaving me unable to get in to work and not able to drive a found i had a lot of spare time on my hands which is where the project started.

 

I currently have a solderless breadboard with a NANO running a 4 digit 7 seg display with rotery encoder and optical sensor to test and play with a bit. I would like to be able to have mag detection on mine and have that as an option on the sellable one. been working on the bluetooth and phone app side of things at the moment as i think the phone app for control (aswell as the PEQ) will work wonders plus you can get a days gaming feed back like the amount of rounds fired all day how often you fire so many things could be done with the app which is why i wanted some feed back from users on here.

Still working on the web site which should be up over the weekend.

[paranoiddroid]

Could you hand a sensor in thr gun linked to a shot.counter that locked the gun off at a predetermined round count forcing a mag change and tug of charging handle/hit of the boLT release?

 

Could you have the system do an fps strong so you can see the spread and the average fps?

[spidermax]

using an inline mosfet (not a true mosfet as it would still run through the trigger) you could have it cut off when it hits Zero this will be an option for users on this one as a lot of players seem keen. 

 

Regarding the charging handle/ bolt type of reset would require additional wiring and a switch (or even a mag well switch) i have and use M16/ M4 so i would work on a switch for one of these but dont have other models and havent had the chance to look to see how easy this would be but I would want to include a 2 pin connector to let users do the modification should they wish.

 

With the Link via bluetooth it will record FPS of every shout and with the app it would work out most of this and more but on the PEQ box you will be able to get Max, Min and average.

 

Will also look and including battery voltage if mosfet is wired.

[spidermax]

Right ive hit a little stumbling block. been trying to find an already existing PEQ box that i can use for the Shout counter but after looking at many i have been finding that none have a back that is flat to fit the display.

I have thought of injection moulding my own but it looks like i'm looking at £2000-£3000 for a mould (please correct me if im wrong)

my other thought is vacuum forming but I'm not sure this would bring me the look I want.

 

Any one go any ideas or thought that could help the new product along?

[Isamu]

maybe you can just cut the back of the PEQ flat. I for one wouldnt care if the back of the PEQ was not "realistic" if it let me see a shot counter. Function over form, I guess.

 

BTW, seeing this I have remembered there are range finders with PEQ style in the RS world, Do you think it is possible to replicate it?

[spidermax]

yeah i looked at the rang finder types i like the wilcox raptor that somone else mentioned in another thread

Yet again the problem is getting it made or finding a source for it. I think i will need to fork out and have the mould made.

the problem with the raptor is there is a bolt in the top that clamps it to the ras and no QR and im not sure if all ras rails have threaded holes on them to mount and weather every one would want to bolt it on and off all the time.

 

on a side note im doing the prototype for the 4 digit display today and should have the photos up in the next day or so.

[Isamu]

Same here, the Raptar can be an incredible help for DMs or snipers, but it has features most specialiced players dont use, like the lasers and flash light. The "lite" version is almost the size of a PEQ15, so Im sure a rangefinder could be tucked into a similarly sized case and use a regular rail mount on it.

 

If someone made a rangefinder which could be attached to a rail with a three digit panel and a remothe switch I wouldnt care if it was a boring square plastic box

 

Good luck with your project, mate! 

[Welsh]

I'm working on a similar project to this myself atm, though I haven't made as much progress on the hardware as you. What kind of sensor are you using to count the shots?

 

Theres a couple of photos of my work here

http://www.ukairsoftzone.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/18297-digital-rifle/

[gisburn20]

I like the sound of these projects, very interested!

 

Jim.

[PureSilver]

Right what feed back features and functions do people want to see?

 

I think you're on-track. The key things I want are inputs - specifically, for connecting alternate means of tripping the counter's various features. Onboard headers would be nice, but I'd settle for terminal blocks or even just an exposed contact on the board to solder to. I would like:

• 'I've changed the magazine for a fresh one' input, which would reset the counter (at either zero if counting up, or the predetermined capacity of the fresh magazine if counting down) and could be a sensor in the magazine well detecting changes.
• 'I've fired a shot' input, which would make the counter count a shot and could be an output from an FCU or a sensor inside the gearbox.

That's it - give me the ability to input those through an easily produced signal, and I'm happy.

 

Whats to come next.

 

-4 Digit display (might use OLED LCD)

-Wireless connection (a must)

-Need to design a PEQ box to accommodate the unit. (a must)

-Silencer Tracer unit with Chrono (will have the option of full unit with chrono and tracer or just counter)(2 prices)

-Mosfet system (yet again two types one plug in and one hard wire)

-work in a volt detection for battery.(a must)

-I think the stop on Empty feature would be nice.

-Input options for the unit (with wire instructions ) so that you could link to a switch to detect the mag if you wanted or a reset button on the mag well.

 

Personally speaking, I would avoid overcomplicating this - you're replicating the features that the XCortech already has, and I'm not sure you need to. Regarding battery voltage sensors and stop-on-empty etc., at that point you're moving beyond the shot counter system and into FCU territory. If you're doing that, you might as well ditch the optical sensor and instead count the gearbox cycles. If you don't need the optical sensor, you don't need wireless communication, either. I like the OLED idea, though, because...

 

Right ive hit a little stumbling block. been trying to find an already existing PEQ box that i can use for the Shout counter but after looking at many i have been finding that none have a back that is flat to fit the display.

... Have you seen the Countashot? I'm not sure this thing ever made it to market, but this is a small and unobtrusive little box marketed by an English company (SGC). The smaller the casing, the cheaper the mould is likely to be - although I agree it will likely still be thousands of pounds. You might wish to investigate having a casting mould (rather than injection one) made and just casting the cases - this will be much, much slower, but still potentially suited to very low volume production. Alternatively, you could design a simple case that could be CNC machined out of aluminium, like I suspect the Countashot is, which is affordable enough if you're going to make tens of them.