Face-Tracking Nerf Turret V2 - Part 1

In this video, I go over the firing mechanism for my second nerf turret. Using the base of the first turret and an entirely different top, I was able to significantly increase dart capacity and firing speed.

The original program remains mostly untouched and still uses an OpenMV camera for the eyes and an Arduino Mega for the brains. The newly designed firing mechanism is much more complicated than the Nerf Jolt used on V1. It is controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller.

The next video(s) in this series will focus on cleaning up the mechanical structure as well as the program. Stay tuned.

[momentomoridoth]

idk how you only have 273 subscribers, but your channel is better than a lot of the big name engineering channels on youtube. I hope you get the larger audience you deserve.

[endless_endeavors]

I'm very interested to see the improvements made to the target tracking. I love the explanations for how things were put together coupled with seeing individual parts in action. This thing is sweet!

[dirt-for-brains]

Can't wait for next vid!
Finally I'll be able to get more info on intricacies of this beautiful piece of engineering. I'll try to swap NERF blaster for my antique blunderbuss to blow up my face :DD
A truly great way to merge new technology with old I say.

[lbgstzockt]

This is a very impressive project, and the video is very entertaining too! You have a bright future

[CourtneyRoberts]

For the Flywheels having a concave face helps a lot. They get more contact surface to get up to speed and they won't get tore up as fast.

[davidjennings]

I like the neatness of the solutions with little bumps to show when the magazine is in position.
Sure, there are quicker ways but the design feels so neat!
Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[gamerlifeon]

Bro amazing editing style and incredible projects for sure make more of these videos.. U will be very popular for sure

[Pepper-qk]

Can’t wait for the view count to catch up to the quality of your videos. This is incredible.

[ianleitch]

Well described and the issues encountered fully discussed. I'm not likely to build one, but feel that I am so much better informed about the whole process. Thank you. I know a young lad who would just love to build something like that. A dreamer like myself.

[mrjoeyjiffy]

This is great, more subs have to be coming soon!

[OnItDaggonIt]

I’m glad I stumbled upon you on the tube. I hope you get bigger man. Keep up the great work!!!

[lwilton]

You have some really interesting project bits here. Like many others, I'm interested in how you are doing object tracking. I could use some ideas there for projects of my own.

One suggestion on video production: Your audio levels are all over the place, to the point that it makes the video difficult to watch, or at least to listen to. The interstitial music is a good 10 dB louder than your voice, though you voice volume about doubles from about the 14 minute to 17 minute marks, then fades back to the low level. The interstitial music is so loud that I need to almost completely mute the audio to preserve my ears. Unfortunately your voice is then so low that I miss the first 3 or 4 words in the next section before I can get the volume back up to where I can hear you.

As a general rule, background music under speech should be about 10 dB down from the voice average level, and interstitial music should be 6 to 10 dB down below the average voice level. Remember, it is what you are saying that is the important thing to listen to, not the background or interstitial music.

I hope to see more videos from you in the future!

[oliverlee]

Really nice video! I really like your step by step detailed explanations of everything, looking forward to the next part. I'm also working on a similar project, trying to fire erasers from a turret to hit my hand so I can catch it and it's nice to see someone else facing similar issues.

[djtopherau]

hey, like the build. very cool. Have a suggestion for your videos; the difference in volume between you talking and the text prompts is massive, one moment I'm turning my headphones up to listen to you, the next I'm blowing my ear drums out when you get to the next section. recommend some gain normalisation. overall very cool though.

[Pokornz]

I really like what you're doing, especially how you show the methods you have tried or considered. BUT, as a viewer, I have a request. Please, please, normalize the audio levels across the whole video. When I crank up the volume so I can understand you, I then get blasted by the music in the segues. Also, while you're at it, get a mic, it will improve your quality massively. Can be lavalier mic, doesn't have to be expensive, personally recommend second-hand. Looking forward to your next video! 😊

[_Error__Goodbye]

I feel like if Mac from It’s Always Sunny learned to code, this is what you’d get 🤣

Cool project and great video 😎🍻 going to check out more of what you’ve done for sure

[nirodha]

Why you wouldn’t just use high capacity existing dart magazines is beyond me ^^… also use half length darts as they are more accurate. I can recommend worked Talon Magazines or in this case a 29 round Tachi Mag by Out of Darts.

[iDoPew]

You also built worlds slowest nerf magazine! 😃

[rumingjiang]

I made a Nerf turret too! I found that the TensorFlow face detection (FOMO I think?) example for the H7 is much more reliable compared to the Haar Cascade example. Have you tried that?

[biodek]

Excellent video, well thought out and detailed, as you progressed through each step of the build. I'm sure you thought about this, but what if the flywheels started spinning up as the dart cartridge started to traverse to "chamber" its next round? At that point it should already be at full speed ready to launch the next dart. However, as you solved the "difference" in speed between the two flywheels, this may no longer be an issue? Keep up the great work, looking forward to Part 2.