Technical Information Center

Here you will find all my information on making lasertag gear from scratch. Eventually this will include information on basic electronics (how circuits and various circuit elements work), basic PicMicro programming, gun and sensor schematics, source code, hex files, shell construction, and tutorials on modifying commercial equipment. This is very much a work in progress, so not all information is complete. (Actually, very little information is complete.)

I recently switched from programming in absolute assembly mode to relative assembly mode. This allows me to write somewhat more modular code. My current work in progress would be classified as the Advanced Gun, though I am planning on linking it with a sensor module. I am going to be using 3 microcontrollers for the entire system (yeah, I know, kind of wasteful, but I ran out of I/O for using a 7-segment display on one chip). The one for the sensor will be a PIC12F629, and the one for the dual 7-segment display will be a PIC16F628a. I have not yet decided what chip will be used for the main controller. I will probably develop it on a PIC16F876a (a high-end 28 pin chip) and then determine if I can step it down to a 16F628a or if I will need to use another 28 pin chip.

Progress on this system is going well. I have not integrated the sensor with it, but I do have a free standing sensor so it shouldn't be that hard to do. All the basic IR handling is also done, though MaxBlast is not fully implimented. The only thing I have not started on is the sound handling. I am still fighting with the ISD1416 over recording multiple sounds from the computer.