The Tempest – World’s first smartphone controlled paintball board

The Tempest is an Etek5 paintball gun board. It’s the world first smartphone controllable paintball board with Bluetooth 4.1 low energy – and it’s open source!

Features:

• Bluetooth 4.1 low energy connectivity
• Convenient user interface (IOS App)
• User-upgradable firmware (USB/Bluetooth)
• Efficient 32 bit low power Arm Cortex M0+ processor
• Open source firmware/hardware (C, Eagle 6)

Get the schematics/pcb/source at http://github.com/SupiSquirrel/Tempest. Some of the features are implemented but not checked in until tested completely.

Video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txHYwd-OGc0.

Tempest – Full Setup

Tempest – Etek5 Grip

Tempest with BLE module

Tempest – w/o BLE module

IOS App

IOS App

FAQ

• Do you sell these Boards?

No, not planned at the moment. But feel free to setup a batch production or kickstarter campaign, contact me for support.

• Do you adapt the board to other Markers?

I would like to do so. But I need the specific marker to measure the electrical characteristics/timings and the mechanics. I’d like to do this for a LV1, Drone 2 or DM15, whatever comes first.

• Is the board better than the Etek5 stock board?

No. The stock board works great, is reliable, and has a long service history.

• So why did you build this?

Because it’s fun!

• Are you sponsored by PE?

No.

• Why did you choose the Etek5?

I think it has a great value for the money. The board works great, but is quite basic (without the Oled).

• Do you plan an Android version of the App?

No, not at the moment. Designing a graphical UI is a torture for me (This is my first App…). I’ve put a lot of efford into this IOS App, but it’s still ugly!

• Why didn’t you publish the IOS code of the App?

I will provide the App in the App Store for free, but the App Store rules forbid the publication of the App by any other means (including source code, in my understanding, tbc). And there is still some work to do before it’s compliant to the App Store rules.

• What did the prototype cost?

About 30$ in parts (including the Bluetooth module), plus 4-Layer PCB, plus assembly.

• What’s the rationale behind your code style?

It’s not optimized for speed or size. It’s optimized for readability, reliability and maintainability. No globals, no interrupts (except one timer), use of object oriented principles, loose coupling between the components and defined HAL, just to name a few design goals. This architecture is suitable for reliable systems. Trust me, I’m an (avionics) engineer 🙂

• Is there a manual?

Yes:

To switch it on, press button 3s until the LED flashes red/green. To switch it off, press the button 5s until the LED flashes red. To disable the eyes, pull the trigger longer than 3s. If a ball is detected, the LED flashes red. If no ball is detected, the LED flashes green. If the eyes are disabled, the LED flashes yellow. If Bluetooth is connected, the LED flashes blue in addition to the other blink patterns.

Every else is set up by the App and is self-explaining (hopefully…)

• Can I plug the Bluetooth bord into the stock board?

No.

• What’s the range of the Bluetooth connection?

I tested it at up to 5m.

• What’s the estimated battery life? Do I have to remove the battery?

Power consumption is negligible (~2µA) if switched off as the DC/DC regulator is completely shut down. See schematic for details.

• Can I support you?

If you want to support the project, post your criticism/impressions/questions/feature requests here.