Tech

They create a smart target with a Raspberry Pi and many lights

Raspberry Pi is surely one of the great solutions that computing has left us in the last decade. A platform that reduces to the minimum expression any hardware project that we have in hand and that don’t need the unleashed power of a computer last generation. Moreover, thanks to its existence we have been able to enjoy that “Mini” revolution of NES, Super Nintendo, Commodore 64, Neo Geo and the most recent Amiga 500.

A smart target?

Now, the uses of these Raspberry Pi can be much more than just a simple emulation system for old consoles and computers, and a good example is the one that we bring you today since it has been on Reddit where we have been able to verify how a certain Phil Harlow spends them when it comes to looking for the most advanced way to play darts of a lifetime. Those who are religion in UK pubs.

These targets (let’s call them analog) are not very precise and with few exceptions, they do not keep track of each player’s points very accurately and, of course, it is almost impossible to ask them to vary the game system to adapt it to other more complex modalities. Well, with this invention all those problems are over because the prototype it has developed is capable of behaving practically like a video game.

To begin with, because every time a dart is hit on it, the portion in which it has hit lights up and saves the score for the player who is currently in possession of the turn of the game. But also, the program that manages everything He gives indications of what the next turn is and who should start shooting, the rules, and just about anything else that makes the game exciting.

Diana Raspberry Pi.

Everything, absolutely everything, is controlled by the Raspberry Pi, which not only keeps track of each game but also offers a touch interface for tablets (for example) that allows us to start games with different variants, which makes it easier for the same target to have new and ever more imaginative forms of entertainment without having to change the whole set. By adding new parts to the program that manages the whole, we can already enjoy any idea that the programmer has come up with.

A dartboard with many lights (LED)

In the Reddit post, its author confesses how he has been building it and that perfect finish has its explanation: he acquired a real dartboard and, from it, he introduced all the improvements that the system needed. Like the matrix of LED lights that is located in the back and that already came as standard, and to which he only had to connect an Arduino to control it. A second element is takes care of connecting to the Raspberry Pi and set the rules of the game and give full meaning to the whole. Specifically, which part of the dartboard has been hit by the dart, which causes it to light up to show it to all players and, later, apply the rules written in the program that governs the Raspberry Pi.

It seems finished though is under development so we will see if a completely viable and functional model that we can take to our mouths will soon be born from here. At the moment things are looking very good and it would not be a bad idea to have one of these smart targets in that bar that we frequent so much to shoot some darts. Do not?

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