GUN4IR - The Ultimate 4 Points Lightgun System

[mike5im5]

Built my first gun last night. Went for simplest approach which was standard guncon45 without recoil. Of course I’m tempted by recoil but i thought I’d use this as a base to start.

I have to say, anyone worried about amount of work. It was a breeze. The components fit into the gk45 with no mods and only a bit of soldering. It actually took more time to build the screen LEDs, the gun mod itself took less that 30mins.

My shopping list below for anyone wanting a quick build:

- ir positioning camera from UK.farnell.com (SEN0158) - £22.79
- second hand guncon34 from eBay (£17)

Both came within 2 days

Rest was from Amazon next day:

- 12 x 940nm ir emitters (£5.99)
- double sided PCB assorted (£6.99 loads spare)
- 100 x 27ohm resisters (£3.99)
- 3 pack 3m micro usb cables (£6.79)
- 3 pack pro micro atmega32U4 arduino 5v 16mhz (£20.99)

Soldier and wiring I already had. Quick recycling tip. If you splice the original guncon harness. Loads of great coloured wiring there. Waste not!

Thank you so much jaybee for doing all the hard work for us lazy people. Whole process worked flawlessly first attempt.

[2knuckels]

Cool build, and not so heavy, cause no recoil

[Marsupial]

Built my first gun last night. Went for simplest approach which was standard guncon45 without recoil.

Nice build. Thanks for posting!

I'm in the (slow) process of getting all for my first attempt at Gun4IR too... (really just waiting on IR leds...)

Question - no recoil. No rumble? and no LEDs?
Did you implement a mode button of any sort?

I'm currently working my way into putting a mode/RGB led on my (very) old lightgun shell.

I'd be curious to hear about functionality and playability from the viewpoint of a builder.

[JayBee]

Built my first gun last night. Went for simplest approach which was standard guncon45 without recoil. Of course I’m tempted by recoil but i thought I’d use this as a base to start.

I have to say, anyone worried about amount of work. It was a breeze. The components fit into the gk45 with no mods and only a bit of soldering. It actually took more time to build the screen LEDs, the gun mod itself took less that 30mins.

My shopping list below for anyone wanting a quick build:

- ir positioning camera from UK.farnell.com (SEN0158) - £22.79
- second hand guncon34 from eBay (£17)

Both came within 2 days

Rest was from Amazon next day:

- 12 x 940nm ir emitters (£5.99)
- double sided PCB assorted (£6.99 loads spare)
- 100 x 27ohm resisters (£3.99)
- 3 pack 3m micro usb cables (£6.79)
- 3 pack pro micro atmega32U4 arduino 5v 16mhz (£20.99)

Soldier and wiring I already had. Quick recycling tip. If you splice the original guncon harness. Loads of great coloured wiring there. Waste not!

Thank you so much jaybee for doing all the hard work for us lazy people. Whole process worked flawlessly first attempt.

Very clean, great job! 

[sinvel]

Leave the button pins as it is now, and disable the pedal, start and dpad right buttons when the RGB led is active, are the keys deactivated only when the RGB LED is active?

It means you can't have both, since they are using the same pins.
If you need those buttons you won't be able to use the led at all. Or not use those buttons at all.
The question is more about which button/pins should we sacrifice or move when using the LED.

From what I understand the only pro micro PWM pins are 3-5-6-9-10,
the only pin that can be sacrificed without losing features is only the start button since most games start by shooting, you could consider using a single-pin LED and maybe add the A + Select combo for the Start button: D

I just received all of my parts and I have just started building my first GUN4IR light gun (this community rocks!!)
I have a quick question, as I understand it we cannot have the RGB led and the pedal/directional/start buttons at the same time, as they use the same pins on the pro micro and on the instructions it states that the firmware will detect what is connected. I really would love to use the pedal (for Time crisis, etc) and the led at the same time, and wonder if there is a workaround?

When does the firmware detect the led or pedal exactly? Is on boot up (power on) every time or is it on first connection and the setting is written in memory and permanent from that point on?  Specifically, can I simply disconnect the common wire for the led to deactivate it on next power on?

Thank you for your help!

[cosmodk]

My first Lightgun project ever. Thanks to Jaybee for all the hard word.

You can watch a short Build log here on YouTube


Thanks JayBee

//Cosmodk

[mike5im5]

Built my first gun last night. Went for simplest approach which was standard guncon45 without recoil.

Nice build. Thanks for posting!

I'm in the (slow) process of getting all for my first attempt at Gun4IR too... (really just waiting on IR leds...)

Question - no recoil. No rumble? and no LEDs?
Did you implement a mode button of any sort?

I'm currently working my way into putting a mode/RGB led on my (very) old lightgun shell.

I'd be curious to hear about functionality and playability from the viewpoint of a builder.

I will add recoil and some extra buttons for sure. This first build was fine for testing purposes. Trigger and two buttons enough for most games. Either being trigger/A/B, trigger/start/coin or trigger/A/start depending on game/emulator.

The guncon45 definitely needs a thumb button or two. I think I’ll start here.

[mike5im5]

My first Lightgun project ever. Thanks to Jaybee for all the hard word.

You can watch a short Build log here on YouTube


Thanks JayBee

//Cosmodk

Excellent work!! And very good video!

[JayBee]

Leave the button pins as it is now, and disable the pedal, start and dpad right buttons when the RGB led is active, are the keys deactivated only when the RGB LED is active?

It means you can't have both, since they are using the same pins.
If you need those buttons you won't be able to use the led at all. Or not use those buttons at all.
The question is more about which button/pins should we sacrifice or move when using the LED.

From what I understand the only pro micro PWM pins are 3-5-6-9-10,
the only pin that can be sacrificed without losing features is only the start button since most games start by shooting, you could consider using a single-pin LED and maybe add the A + Select combo for the Start button: D

I just received all of my parts and I have just started building my first GUN4IR light gun (this community rocks!!)
I have a quick question, as I understand it we cannot have the RGB led and the pedal/directional/start buttons at the same time, as they use the same pins on the pro micro and on the instructions it states that the firmware will detect what is connected. I really would love to use the pedal (for Time crisis, etc) and the led at the same time, and wonder if there is a workaround?

When does the firmware detect the led or pedal exactly? Is on boot up (power on) every time or is it on first connection and the setting is written in memory and permanent from that point on?  Specifically, can I simply disconnect the common wire for the led to deactivate it on next power on?

Thank you for your help!

With the RGB LEDs and the pro micro board, you only lose the dpad, the other buttons are all still available with a slightly different pinout 
Now if you want every possible buttons with rgb leds, and even feedbacks at the same time, you can used a modified Teensy 2.0 or a Micro, they have enough pins to support everything!

Yes the detection is performed at each boot when all 3 pins of the RGB LEDs are connected, so you can add/remove it anytime.

[JayBee]

My first Lightgun project ever. Thanks to Jaybee for all the hard word.

You can watch a short Build log here on YouTube


Thanks JayBee

//Cosmodk

Really nice job! 
So did you get the gun side leds flashing?

[Marsupial]

Here's mine.

The shell is old. Very old. Midway, had a db9 connector. Genesis? I got it for dirt cheap because it was broken.

Had to cut the barrel short. It was shattered, and was crumbling, it kept breaking and ended shorter than I was hoping.

Kept the inner circuit boards for the switches, but had to install new switches as they weren't reliable.
Found a switch that would fit in the rj9 expansion connector in the handle, but it was NC (we need NO switches...) so I cut it open and made my own from a microswitch.

The camera fit perfectly in the barrel and the grove is perfectly sized.
Somehow I had to turn the camera 90 degrees, is that normal?

I added the rgb led in the front.

The whole circuitry fits tightly. Very tightly. There's no more room, so no rumble, no solenoid.  But it works very, very well.


Thanks JayBee for doing the leg work for us!

[JayBee]

Here's mine.

The shell is old. Very old. Midway, had a db9 connector. Genesis? I got it for dirt cheap because it was broken.

Had to cut the barrel short. It was shattered, and was crumbling, it kept breaking and ended shorter than I was hoping.

Kept the inner circuit boards for the switches, but had to install new switches as they weren't reliable.
Found a switch that would fit in the rj9 expansion connector in the handle, but it was NC (we need NO switches...) so I cut it open and made my own from a microswitch.

The camera fit perfectly in the barrel and the grove is perfectly sized.
Somehow I had to turn the camera 90 degrees, is that normal?

I added the rgb led in the front.

The whole circuitry fits tightly. Very tightly. There's no more room, so no rumble, no solenoid.  But it works very, very well.


Thanks JayBee for doing the leg work for us!

Great job! It's always nice to see old broken hardware being put back to life in some way 
And yeah for the cam being on the side, it's dfrobot mistake, it's actually the right side.

[Marsupial]

Great job! It's always nice to see old broken hardware being put back to life in some way 

Thanks


I was happy the camera actually fit in there. That gun has been in my parts bin forever, and today was the first time I saw it "work"

[mike5im5]

Added a solenoid circuit and extra button to my guncon45 tonight.

When I tested the recoil in the gun4ui app I thought it a little underwhelming for the effort to install. Then when I tried it in a couple of games I was blown away. What a great addition.

I’m using a 10mm throw, 24v solenoid with 6n bought from Amazon. It’s small but load enough that I worry about waking up the kids when using it. 

Quick question, assuming with continuous use this thing will get hot. What use is too much? 30+ minutes of intensive gameplay? My wife and kids tend to hold the trigger down for really long periods. Should I be worried?

[Marsupial]

Added a solenoid circuit and extra button to my guncon45 tonight.

When I tested the recoil in the gun4ui app I thought it a little underwhelming for the effort to install. Then when I tried it in a couple of games I was blown away. What a great addition.

I’m using a 10mm throw, 24v solenoid with 6n bought from Amazon. It’s small but load enough that I worry about waking up the kids when using it. 

Quick question, assuming with continuous use this thing will get hot. What use is too much? 30+ minutes of intensive gameplay? My wife and kids tend to hold the trigger down for really long periods. Should I be worried?

I have a similar solenoid, but no gun shell that would fit it... Lol
Happy to read it makes a great effect!

You had the same idea as me for the USB cable: cloth covered instead of rubber. Mine just haven't arrived yet.
How long is your cable?

[JayBee]

Added a solenoid circuit and extra button to my guncon45 tonight.

When I tested the recoil in the gun4ui app I thought it a little underwhelming for the effort to install. Then when I tried it in a couple of games I was blown away. What a great addition.

I’m using a 10mm throw, 24v solenoid with 6n bought from Amazon. It’s small but load enough that I worry about waking up the kids when using it. 

Quick question, assuming with continuous use this thing will get hot. What use is too much? 30+ minutes of intensive gameplay? My wife and kids tend to hold the trigger down for really long periods. Should I be worried?

For that I recommend using a temp sensor you can put against the coil.
You can then regulate the threshold temp with the settings in the app (the default is super low as a safety, you will have to increase the thresholds).
Really nice solenoid btw, seems like perfect size, which model is it?

[2knuckels]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

[JayBee]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

Yeah I already made several guns with motorized recoils, but those are pretty terrible for single shot feedback, due to the way they work.
They are only good for full auto.

[mike5im5]

Added a solenoid circuit and extra button to my guncon45 tonight.

When I tested the recoil in the gun4ui app I thought it a little underwhelming for the effort to install. Then when I tried it in a couple of games I was blown away. What a great addition.

I’m using a 10mm throw, 24v solenoid with 6n bought from Amazon. It’s small but load enough that I worry about waking up the kids when using it. 

Quick question, assuming with continuous use this thing will get hot. What use is too much? 30+ minutes of intensive gameplay? My wife and kids tend to hold the trigger down for really long periods. Should I be worried?

I have a similar solenoid, but no gun shell that would fit it... Lol
Happy to read it makes a great effect!

You had the same idea as me for the USB cable: cloth covered instead of rubber. Mine just haven't arrived yet.
How long is your cable?

3m. Long enough for my room

[mike5im5]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

Yeah I already made several guns with motorized recoils, but those are pretty terrible for single shot feedback, due to the way they work.
They are only good for full auto.

Hey Jaybee, any way to restrict to single shot from software? Or is the setting on the arduino software? I would be nice for games where you know it’s semi auto pistols not to have continuous recoil.

[JayBee]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

Yeah I already made several guns with motorized recoils, but those are pretty terrible for single shot feedback, due to the way they work.
They are only good for full auto.

Hey Jaybee, any way to restrict to single shot from software? Or is the setting on the arduino software? I would be nice for games where you know it’s semi auto pistols not to have continuous recoil.

Yeah it's a setting in my GUI

[mike5im5]

Added a solenoid circuit and extra button to my guncon45 tonight.

When I tested the recoil in the gun4ui app I thought it a little underwhelming for the effort to install. Then when I tried it in a couple of games I was blown away. What a great addition.

I’m using a 10mm throw, 24v solenoid with 6n bought from Amazon. It’s small but load enough that I worry about waking up the kids when using it. 

Quick question, assuming with continuous use this thing will get hot. What use is too much? 30+ minutes of intensive gameplay? My wife and kids tend to hold the trigger down for really long periods. Should I be worried?

For that I recommend using a temp sensor you can put against the coil.
You can then regulate the threshold temp with the settings in the app (the default is super low as a safety, you will have to increase the thresholds).
Really nice solenoid btw, seems like perfect size, which model is it?

It’s an “ sourcingmap DC 24V 300mA Push Pull Type Open Frame Solenoid Electromagnet 10mm 6N 1.3LB” from Amazon. Notice it’s not in immediate stock anymore. I wouldn’t say it’s super powerful. But the clicking sound is what really takes me back to the arcades in terms of experience.

Temp sensor sounds like a wise idea (along with explaining to a 6 year old that he doesn’t have to hold the trigger down forever. 😂)

[mike5im5]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

Yeah I already made several guns with motorized recoils, but those are pretty terrible for single shot feedback, due to the way they work.
They are only good for full auto.

Hey Jaybee, any way to restrict to single shot from software? Or is the setting on the arduino software? I would be nice for games where you know it’s semi auto pistols not to have continuous recoil.

Yeah it's a setting in my GUI

Great! Will be even cooler to be able to switch it on/off via a CLI. So you could toggle it with game loading scripts. Games like alien extermination play so nice with the full auto.

[JayBee]

Some time ago I also have built with these 24V and even 6V solis from amazon. The Problem is they get hot, and if you reduce the spring force too much it is pretty useless.
For heavy duty rapidfire I would also use any motorized soli, as they are built to work without stop.
If you have a 3D printer you can print the "half cog" yourself or you disassembly a toy gun with a recoil unit  (e.g. lasertag guns). With these recoils you can get up to approx. 12 shots per second. Should be enough for lightguns.
The motor on time depends on the cog diameter and the gear and is usually around 10 to 40 ms. You need no motor control as you just apply 5V or what ever for the soli on time.

Yeah I already made several guns with motorized recoils, but those are pretty terrible for single shot feedback, due to the way they work.
They are only good for full auto.

Hey Jaybee, any way to restrict to single shot from software? Or is the setting on the arduino software? I would be nice for games where you know it’s semi auto pistols not to have continuous recoil.

Yeah it's a setting in my GUI

Great! Will be even cooler to be able to switch it on/off via a CLI. So you could toggle it with game loading scripts. Games like alien extermination play so nice with the full auto.

It's also possible to do that 
Alien extermination doesn't work so well with solenoids, since it make them overheat super fast, but works super well with motorize solenoid and rumble output (which is also supported).

[Distortion23]

hello everyone ready to tackle this project. just wonder what gauge wire I should order for connection to the arduino board. thanks

[kim_sama_999]

I bought one the TC4 gun clones from Aliexpress and they are great quality. I did successfuly convert it to GUN4IR but there wasn't enough room for everything. I was a tight space to put the Pro Micro board and the camera had to stick out

[Marsupial]

I bought one the TC4 gun clones from Aliexpress and they are great quality. I did successfuly convert it to GUN4IR but there wasn't enough room for everything. I was a tight space to put the Pro Micro board and the camera had to stick out

These guns are looking great. That's a full recoil?

Can you post pictures of the insides?

[kim_sama_999]

I bought one the TC4 gun clones from Aliexpress and they are great quality. I did successfuly convert it to GUN4IR but there wasn't enough room for everything. I was a tight space to put the Pro Micro board and the camera had to stick out

These guns are looking great. That's a full recoil?

Can you post pictures of the insides?

It does come with the solenoid but I didn't set it up.

[boppyman]

Built my first gun last night. Went for simplest approach which was standard guncon45 without recoil. Of course I’m tempted by recoil but i thought I’d use this as a base to start.

I have to say, anyone worried about amount of work. It was a breeze. The components fit into the gk45 with no mods and only a bit of soldering. It actually took more time to build the screen LEDs, the gun mod itself took less that 30mins.

My shopping list below for anyone wanting a quick build:

- ir positioning camera from UK.farnell.com (SEN0158) - £22.79
- second hand guncon34 from eBay (£17)

Both came within 2 days

Rest was from Amazon next day:

- 12 x 940nm ir emitters (£5.99)
- double sided PCB assorted (£6.99 loads spare)
- 100 x 27ohm resisters (£3.99)
- 3 pack 3m micro usb cables (£6.79)
- 3 pack pro micro atmega32U4 arduino 5v 16mhz (£20.99)

Soldier and wiring I already had. Quick recycling tip. If you splice the original guncon harness. Loads of great coloured wiring there. Waste not!

Thank you so much jaybee for doing all the hard work for us lazy people. Whole process worked flawlessly first attempt.

Hi mate would you mind adding links to the IR camera and IR emitters?   I can't seem to see the IR camera for £23 and am unsure which LEDs to buy.

I'm looking at ordering all the parts and I'm also from the UK so it would be a big help.

Thanks

[2huwman]

I've used the 1w version of these IR emitters, powering them with a 1A USB plug. You have to bridge the 'IN' and '5V' inputs to keep them on constantly. They get hot but not too hot:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869020004.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.ea094c4dE9i0qU

They were delivered within a couple of weeks to the UK.

[2knuckels]

I bought one the TC4 gun clones from Aliexpress and they are great quality. I did successfuly convert it to GUN4IR but there wasn't enough room for everything. I was a tight space to put the Pro Micro board and the camera had to stick out

Could you please post a link or how they are called at aliexpress I did not find them

[boppyman]

I've used the 1w version of these IR emitters, powering them with a 1A USB plug. You have to bridge the 'IN' and '5V' inputs to keep them on constantly. They get hot but not too hot:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869020004.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.ea094c4dE9i0qU

They were delivered within a couple of weeks to the UK.

I was thinking of doing it that way tbh but plug sockets are at a premium lol, so am just looking to run them via USB straight from the PC

[Marsupial]

I'm using the HDD power connector to power mine.

[Marsupial]

I've used the 1w version of these IR emitters, powering them with a 1A USB plug. You have to bridge the 'IN' and '5V' inputs to keep them on constantly. They get hot but not too hot:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869020004.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.ea094c4dE9i0qU

They were delivered within a couple of weeks to the UK.

Are 1w infrared LEDs safe to look at?

[sinvel]

Ah my first gun build!

I had to try this after losing bids twice on some Guncon gun shells on ebay.    Went out and found a Rival Nerf gun at walmart for 10$.  Some of the pics show the building process and the final wiring I had to do at the end.

I put in a 12v 25N solenoid I got at Amazon, so there is full recoil attached to the slider at the front of the gun, along with a working RGB led light I put in at the side of the gun. I also put in 4 working buttons in the dimples at the front part of the gun.  It was hard work but a ton of fun building it! 

[JayBee]

I've used the 1w version of these IR emitters, powering them with a 1A USB plug. You have to bridge the 'IN' and '5V' inputs to keep them on constantly. They get hot but not too hot:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869020004.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.ea094c4dE9i0qU

They were delivered within a couple of weeks to the UK.

Are 1w infrared LEDs safe to look at?

From the research we did, yes they are.
But from the testing I've been doing lately, the advantages compared to a more simple led system isn't that huge.

Ah my first gun build!

I had to try this after losing bids twice on some Guncon gun shells on ebay.    Went out and found a Rival Nerf gun at walmart for 10$.  Some of the pics show the building process and the final wiring I had to do at the end.

I put in a 12v 25N solenoid I got at Amazon, so there is full recoil attached to the slider at the front of the gun, along with a working RGB led light I put in at the side of the gun. I also put in 4 working buttons in the dimples at the front part of the gun.  It was hard work but a ton of fun building it! 

That's awesome, super cool result! 
Nerf guns are def a nice and creative solution for my system 

[kim_sama_999]

I bought one the TC4 gun clones from Aliexpress and they are great quality. I did successfuly convert it to GUN4IR but there wasn't enough room for everything. I was a tight space to put the Pro Micro board and the camera had to stick out

Could you please post a link or how they are called at aliexpress I did not find them

This is the one I bought: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001599914124.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.63434c4dbseawb

[2knuckels]

thank you. I did not know that searching with the german translation of tc aliexpress finds these

[dromerin30]

Hello, I made the payment by paypal on June 2 and I still have not received the key

[leirbag23]

Hi, im very new at this, im trying to see every tutorial. My goal for a test is to use a nintendo zapper (super simple) and the camera of a original wiimote. Any advice?