Gun Science: Engineers Plot Shots with Accelerometers
A team of Texas engineers uses the principle of convolution to plot shot impacts. By triangulating data from multiple accelerometers, each shot’s exact point of impact can be plotted with great precision.
Waterloo Labs is a group of engineers from National Instruments and other self-declared “nerds” from Austin, Texas. These folks conducted an interesting demonstration using electronic accelerometers to plot bullet impacts from a suppressed Ruger MKIII .22LR pistol. The accelerometers respond to vibrations caused when the bullets hit a drywall target backer. By triangulating data from multiple accelerometers, each shot’s exact point of impact can be plotted with great precision. These point-of-impact coordinates are then fed into a computer and super-imposed into a Flash version of the Half-Life video game (which is projected on the drywall board). The end result is being able to “play” a video game with a real firearm.
Do-It-Yourself Electronic Target System?
Now, we are NOT particularly interested in shooting Zombies in a video game. However, the technology has interesting potential applications for real shooters. Waterloo Labs has published the computer code, used to triangulate bullet impacts from multiple accelerometers. Potentially, a system like this could be built to provide display and scoring of long-range targets. Sophisticated electronic target systems already exist, but they use proprietary hardware and software, and they are very expensive. The Waterloo Labs experiment shows that shooters with some computer and electronic skills could build their own electronic scoring system, one that can be adapted to a variety of target sizes and materials.
In addition, we imagine this system could be utilized for military and law enforcement training. The walls of structures used for “live-fire” room-clearing exercises could be fitted with accelerometers so the bullet impacts could be plotted and studied. Then, later, the impact plots could be combined with a computer simulation so that trainees could “replay” their live-fire sessions, viewing the actual location of their hits (and misses).
Credit The Firearm Blog for finding this Waterloo Labs project.Similar Posts:
- Texas Technicians Use Accelerometers to Plot Bullet Hits
- Electronic Target Systems — Seeing is Believing
- Electronic Target Systems — Fast, Precise, and Expensive
- High-Tech Target Systems Plot Shots Automatically
- New CMP-Approved Air Rifle and Rule Changes for Electronic Scoring
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Tags: Chronograph, Digital Scoring, Electronic Target, Pistol Target, Video Game, Waterloo Labs
I wonder if this would work on steel targets? Attach the sensors to the back of the plate so as to avoid damage. Somehow route the wires to keep them protected from misses and splatter. Wouldn’t have to repaint all the time.
How is this different from electronic scoring that is used by the CMP / Olympics and others?
Do tell me how this works when the middle/bull is shot away?
Seriously – I like the concept, but wonder about the target material to produce consistent results.
Existing systems use microphones.
In principle you should be able to use a thick-enough steel plate so that you don’t shoot through it. Put something on the back to dampen vibration if necessary since steel can be kind of bouncy. Mount the accelerometers on the back of the target plate. Some computational work would have to be done to calibrate the system, but computing cycles are cheap these days.