Sentry gun controller

201203290958
Thanks to Bob's open-source Sentry Gun controller, now anyone can build a gun that "autonomously tracks, aims, and shoots at targets using a webcam."

(Via Dangerous Prototypes)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Daniel Smith

Pretty soon anyone will be able to build a fully autonomous combat ready robot in their garage. Why does this not make me feel better?
- http://twitter.com/DanHibiki1 Dan Hibiki
  
  well you still have to poses a level of intelligence to build a kill bot. Be more worried that any drunk idiot can own a gun today.
  - IamInnocent
    
    One who believes that such a sentry gun can work flawlessly is neither intelligent nor knowledgeable.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAUXAA362EXWLYVMPJOKLFB5JQ Incipient Madness
    
    We should all be aware that in Florida at least, it’s not the drunk idiots you need to worry about.
- EH
  
  Just make sure it only recognizes people in hoodies and you have an airtight case of self-defense.
Mister44

Cool. I know a few people who made sentry paintball guns. Worked really well too. Right out of Aliens.
- fuzzyfuzzyfungus
  
  I don’t think of “Worked really well” and “Right out of Aliens” as phrases that get along well…
  
  B gun’s at 20.
  - rekoil
    
    They *did* work really well…right up to the point that they ran out of ammo.
    - Mister44
      
      Yep. Needed several more cases of ammo.
Mark Dow

A bit of Sand Flea recognition software and we’ll be good to go.
- awjt
  
  Exactly. I want one of these mounted on a Sand Flea.
  
  Unsuspecting burgulars standing around on a roof… then….
  
  SURPRISE!!! AR15 SAND FLEA!!! Brap brbrbrbrbrbrap rap rap!
  
  Solves that problem.
  - Mark Dow
    
    I will need to update the software to properly recognize and respond to your AR15 Sand Flea.
    - awjt
      
      My AR15 Sand Flea will shoot your Robo AR15′s bullets, and I will have an extra bullet to finish the job! then BOINGGGG, back to ground level.
      - Mark Dow
        
        Deploy the quadrotor electronic counter-measure swarm defense system, stat!
      - awjt
        
        My horde of spherical self-propelled neutron-pulse generators will take out your quadrotor electronics, as the sand fleas leap to a safe distance.
ROSSINDETROIT

So does this mean an actual Gun gun or a Nerf gun, or a Super Soaker or a laser tag gun or a paintball gun? Because if people are automating real firearms I need to buy a small valley somewhere – nowhere if possible – and dig a hole in it to live in.
- Daniel Smith
  
  if it’ll work with a paintball gun, it’ll work with any other gun you care to hook to it…
  - kerowhack
    
    Not necessarily. The recoil from many firearms would rip a mount for a paintball gun to shreds.
    - Daniel Smith
      
      beefing up the mount is, in the scheme of things, a pretty minor alt.
      - http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
        
        Might as well jump ahead to engineering ways to absorb/disperse recoil, for the inevitable next step of mounting on quadcopters.
- http://twitter.com/jsrichardson James Richardson
  
  Adds a whole new element to the 2nd amendment doesn’t it.
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    The right to own a robotic killbot is protected under the constitution
  - Mark Dow
    
    And the 14th amendment. Killbots are people too.
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RORTZSJHWWFSAOR3SBPRSHWBTI B.
      
      Right up there with corporations.
- http://www.tumbleweed.net/ tyger11
  
  And what’s really great is – once you get your small valley somewhere, you can protect it with automated sentry guns! Automated sentry guns, the problem that solves itself!
- awjt
  
  A valley? These are going to be on every mountaintop.
ComradeQuestions

now anyong can build a gun that

Annyong.
- mccrum
  
  Hello.
  - http://www.tumbleweed.net/ tyger11
    
    Hellg.
    - http://deansli.st/ Dean Putney
      
      Annyong.
- spejic
  
  I think Anne Ong can build a gun that something. She’s pretty good with robotics.
- Arguman
  
  Why should I have to sit and cheer Annyong? Annyong never cheers me.
IronEdithKidd

You could have your own Half Life LARP with a few more of these.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ROVGMU7U6DJ2Y74KQWFLDY4HHQ octolover

i’d sap that.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

That high-pitched humming you hear is Isaac Asimov spinning in his grave.

(People pointing out that Asimov was cremated will be sent to the sentry bot testing arena.)
- http://www.tumbleweed.net/ tyger11
  
  Was he cremated by an automated sentry laser?
  - http://www.zhrodague.net/ Drew from Zhrodague
    
    An automated rotisserie/sentry laser, yes.
Bodhipaksa

Can track hoodies and skittles.
- http://www.tumbleweed.net/ tyger11
  
  I wonder if the company that makes Skittles makes hoodies? Perhaps if you combine then, they cancel each other out?
baronkarza

Why not just nuke the place from orbit — only way to make sure, right?
Gtmac

What happened to the guy who bought the Segway company again?
abstract_reg

Can you give it a voice that sounds adorable, saying “Who’s there?” and “I see you.” ?
- Donald Petersen
  
  Personally, I just want to make it immune to Autohack darts.
  
  Still, “No hard feelings” is just the polite thing to say when toppling over.
robotnik

Then I’ll be sure not to use a webcam near it.
ROSSINDETROIT

It might be just as effective with a laser sight and blank ammo. That would be a trouser-soiling experience.
brianary

A chair may be more stable and available than a tripod, and would make this a Bioshock turret.
spejic

The South Africans have an anti aircraft version of this. It finds its own targets, engages them on its own, and even reloads itself when it runs out of shells. And then one day…

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/robot-cannon-ki/
jeligula

The only practical application for this is the coming zombie apocalypse. Therefore, I applaud the open-sourceiness of it. It takes a brave man to declare that zombies are a threat to all.
pjcamp

Oh good! Nothing bad could possibly come of this. Perhaps they could sell it into gated communities in Florida.
Daemonworks

Good thing milita types, zetas and the like don’t know how to use the internet.
BombBlastLightingWaltz

SkyNet activated. T1 system initiated.
teapot

If you can destroy the system with a $5 laser pointer and a bucket of water it’s probably not a good security alternative.
mackerelstopper

Oh Great! Just give it a real gun , some mobility and we’re all F’d.
mobobo

how about an automated sentry robot that greets the intruder with a nice cup of tea? then chats with your uninvited guest about lifestyle choices and how a positive social contribution will add to a sense of personal well being…
Arguman

I can think of no way commercial use of this product could possibly lead to any problems.
howaboutthisdangit

I wonder how hard it would be to adapt the software to control a USB foam rocket launcher. That would be the ultimate in desktop defense.
Crispian

How does it detect that the targets are using a webcam? ;)
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JYMJO3TLK65WJX5B5CZ5ZGE4JY Thax

Just what we need: more shootings, less responsibility.
mtskeptic

Now just to package it in an ovoid shaped turret a la Portal :)