Remote Control Pellet Gun – With Scope

Project Thunderbird is an automated predator and pest control system. It consists of a pellet gun mounted in a motorized base. The icing on the cake is a 60x zoom camera that has cross-hairs superimposed on the picture. This reminds us of the Internet hunting for the handicap we heard about years ago.

In the video after the break you can see how the motorized base works, watch the trigger-pull motor, and observe a demonstration of some target practice. The creator, [Gadgetapodimus], mentions the possible sale of plans and kits as soon as he completes the system. Perhaps it would be better if this was not easy for people to build.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyxvJGeyig]

40 thoughts on “Remote Control Pellet Gun – With Scope

  1. sorry, i meant to say:

    ill buy that for X? dollars!

    but i suppose if an illiterate was making the claim, it would be just as funny

    Let me know when the pdf instructions are available. id like to develop stuff like this with my ideas but CAD software just doesnt let me do it
    machine cad …anyone?

  2. Very cool, I’ve been toying with the idea of building one of these for a while now. I’d probably start with an airsoft gun and switch it out for a 10/22 once I got everything working.

  3. What if the motor was controlled by an iPhone with the crosshairs being displayed on the screen and it had an option to be accelerometer-based? I’d buy that. Or possibly one of those rangefinders with an accelerometer in it used for golf? You could aim it at the target and press a button and it would fire. Or it could be PC or Mac-controlled via a joystick and WiFi. The possibilities are endless.

  4. It needs to move slowly so he can control it when he has the camera zoomed in. If it moved too fast, it would be difficult to make any fine adjustments.

    Though ideally he should have a high-speed coarse movement, and then the slower fine adjustment. If you read the project page, he mentions that he currently plans to implement a system where the drive motors will receive double voltage for exactly that purpose.

    A nice touch would be to have it switch from coarse to fine movement once the camera zoom exceeds a certain magnification. Or even better, have motor speed proportional to the level of zoom, so that the motors slow down and speed up gradually as the zoom level changes.

  5. Well, i pass here to see what is new and dont have time to see what others say so i will say what i think about your comment “Perhaps it would be better if this was not easy for people to build.”
    want ot not this is REALY ease to make BUT the hard part of this is to take out of the paper and make the code and move one the right angle that you need… so we can say that is a ease project but to much work is needed to work perfect like we want…

  6. I’ve never seen a robot quite like the one used here, This seems very clever. Simple way to get a wide range of angles accurately and with minimal backlash.

    I can see going for a really high end version, with basically the same mechanism, swapping out the threaded rod for ballscrews and much larger servos, and then the aim would be very precise with the possibility of rapid motion.

  7. The problem with this device is the air gun.

    There just aren’t any magazine fed semiauto air guns that have the power or accuracy needed for humane pest control. I’m not against shooting animals if there is a good reason ( I do it myself ) but I think they deserve a quick clean kill. That Crossman is little more than a toy.

    All the magazine fed air guns that do have the power and accuracy needed are bolt action single shot. He needs to find a way to operate the bolt on one of these remotely. Not an easy task because you have both linear and rotary motion plus the effort of cocking the striker.

  8. Use the same motors he has just use 4 stat Acme rod and he can quadruple the speed and make it more accurate.At first glance I thought stepper motors also but the control would get WAY more difficult since the control would be based off a “home” position.He wants simple remote control…that he has achieved. Add a self sighting system like the auto face recognition in new digital cameras and this thing could be insane! I like it. I want one. Time to fire up the mill…

  9. Good thing pests don’t have ears; my cat’s freaking out by the sound of that motor. If it could be more silent – the word stealth I think was used somewhere in the post? Regardless I’m thinking a solution of cayan and water in a reservoir and nozzle control for stray cat control. Humane and annoying.

    1. I am tired of feeding tomatoes to deer. I would enjoy nothing more than to see a deer taking bb’s in the ass til I can see him no more. Fatal, no. Educational for animals? I think so.

  10. trigger pull need only be a motor with a cam lobe…so long as it is semiautomatic weapon …oops if the motor spins fast you will empty magazine too fast….wonder A. what the max cyclic rate the average semi auto would allow for assuming one could use any rpm desired to rotate trigger pressure cam. And B. would this qualify as an “automatic” weapon as far as batf is concerned?? There was at one time hand crank kits for ruger 10 22 etc that allowed a person to fire their rifle assumably as fast as they could turn the thing…I instantly realized way back then that all someone need do is replace the crank handle with a variable speed drill motor ….I never bought one and tried that, but it sounded fun and maybe?? illegal

    Seems to me that some company already would supply remote turrett outfits for 35mm cameras? If so I would think such a setup might already be stout enough to support a semi auto .22….ruger 10 22 (better yet .17 calibe?!) has the most after market support INCLUDING drum magazines…50 rounds at least as I recall? Remotely fired from one’s PC? On a portable pole in the middle of gopher infested field or garden? Money making operation? How about integrating facial recognition program to target ONLY gopher profile etc, and put an automated targeting elimination package into play!? Have a secondary safety system with camera(s) constantly scanning for human, canine, wildlife (other than target species) as a fail safe back up that prevents firing if anything enters live fire zone….could have an amplified recording/automated warning “WARNING you are on private property and in grave danger! Retreat or risk live rifle fire! WARNING WARNING WARNING! There could also be audio files that species recognition system could play if intruder is other than human…whatever audio signal would best serve to drive away non target livestock or wildlife….hmmm COULD on future models even have secondary non lethal armaments designed to ONLY drive away without harm! A pellet fired to the rump of any dog, cow, cat etc…concussion noisemaker to drive away birds like crows etc. Could be a farmer’s very own “RoboCop”!….no? I LOVE IT!

    And should a farmer get bored? Switch her back to manual and use the old joystick and fire buttons!

  11. I’d like to have me a few of these to kill pigeons on the ground. My willfully stupid pigeon crap for brains neighbor has infested her acre of property with these filthy city pests that are not part of nature out here in the country. A few of these things would be a wonderful community service for the area.

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