Dry Fire Laser Target

Intro: Dry Fire Laser Target

This project will walk you through building a target that can be used in conjunction with a dry fire laser which is either bought, or made from another instructable. I will not go into putting the project into a case because there are many different ways to go about this. I'll give a couple of examples at the end.

STEP 1: Wire the Arduino

Note ***I am not aware of what photoresistor I used. Most say to use a 10k Ohm pull-down resistor with it and I have only 3k Ohm listed. It worked on multiple builds, so I will stick with it. Next time, I'll try it with a 10K Ohm resistor.**

The picture shows the wiring that I used and it is also reflected in the code which you will use later on.

The (passive) Buzzer has the '+' side connected to 'D11" on the Arduino (it may just be marked as '11'

The LED has the resistor connected to the '+' side, which is the longer pin on the LED

With the Photo resistor, direction does not matter.

** Remember to make your connections with wire that will be the right length for the enclosure that you plan on using.

**Don't plan on placing the LED too close to the Photo resistor, otherwise it get stuck in a loop and continually go on/off.

If you want the target to be battery operated,and with an on/off switch, connect the battery pack's ground to the Arduino ground and the positive to the switch and from there to the 'VIN'

STEP 2: Program the Arduino

Download the Arduino IDE

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main.Software

and follow the install instructions.

Plug the Arduino into you computer and find out which COM port it is on.

On the "Tool" menu on the IDE, choose:

Board: Arduino Nano (or match the board you are using)

And Port: to the port that your Arduino is found.

Download and open the file "Laser Target"

You can now upload the program to your Arduino by pressing the "right arrow button"

=OR=

read the code first.

You can change the location of your buzzer, LED, and photo resistor pins, so if you accidentally soldered your LED to A0 instead of A1, you can just change the program and not have to re-solder.

After uploading, if you decide that you don't like the tone or length of the buzzer, you can change that as noted in the file.

STEP 3: Put It Together

(missing buzzer in picture)

You will need something the diffuse the light for the photo resistor. If you don't, you will have to hit that resistor straight on, which is a pretty small target.

I used a cap from a oat milk container. I've only used white lids, but you could try other colours. I bent the wire on the photo resistor to face the center of the cap and hot glued it in place. Try and keep it towards the back of the cap and not right up against the lid.

You can now either find a box to put your target in, poke a hole through a piece of cardboard and place the bullseye inside (and another hole for the LED)

STEP 4: Play and Improvement Ideas

Play**

** On the video, the cardboard target does not have a buzzer connected.

Improvements that could be made:

there is plenty of space on the Arduino to add another 1 or 2 bullseyes,

daisy-chain multiple targets together to work off of one power source.

add a LCD 'hit count"

add a potentiometer between the buzzer (+ side) and the arduino for volume control

If you find an error in my Instructable, or something needs to be clarified, please let me know.

Comments

[millerscott89]

How can you make this without Arduino? Just a light sensor, led and a battery?

[reedjor]

Skree, thank you for making this. If battery powered, can one use batteries with a smaller form factor or do arduinos require 3 AAs?

[DrHoppe]

Now, I'm INCREDIBLY new to this and I have zero background in electronics, but from what I understand, a Nano can run off a 9v battery wired directly into it versus a battery pack. You wire the ground to the GRD and the hot to the VIN. Apparently this can handle anything from 7v-12v. However, if you break your Nano, don't blame me. I haven't tried it yet, but that's how I will do it when I try it.

I'm basing it on this post series: https://forum.arduino.cc/t/simplest-battery-power-to-arduino-nano-solution/530242/2

[DrHoppe]

Hello Skree. Happy New Year! I hope you can answer this. I purchased a Arduino Uno kit and was going to attempt this build (I can't wait till the Nano's get here from China around March). Anyway, I'm wondering, do the LED and the buzzer connect to the same ground pin? Is it okay to run multiple things to the same ground? I know almost nothing about electronics, but I was thinking that if I tried to add a hit counter or anything, that would also need a ground wire. The board itself as 2 ground pins on the power section and 1 ground pin on the digital (PWM) section. I know this isn't a Nano, but I would imagine I'll run into the same issue there as well. Could you let me know what you think? Attached are some images from the product page for the buzzer and photo resister/LED and how they hook up individually.

[skree]

Yes: Ground is ground. You can plug any/all grounds to the breadboard and put however many you need.
The picture on the right is off, in that the Ground of the Uno is going to the Positive (+) side of the breadboard rail. Always have GND to (-) and 5V OR 3,3V to (+). It's also good to get into the habit of using red and black wires for these.

[DrHoppe]

Yes, I noticed that. This was taken from their WIKI page for the kit (Inland Basic Starter V2 kit for Arduino). Using the Tinkercad simulator I came up with this which *seems* to work. Both a breadboard version and a direct wiring one. I think this simulator is really going to be helpful. I've also found a project with 3 pop-up/knock down targets built on the same concept using servos and the targets randomly pop-up which would be fun. The link is at: https://projecthub.arduino.cc/ksulamanidze/5c16384...

If you're interested. :-) Thank you so much for the response and help! I'm going to put it together and try it tomorrow!!!

[skree]

You can buy all the components Stateside for around $20 USD, or from China for about $5, but delivery might take a couple of months.

[DrHoppe]

I have a feeling something has changed since you posted this 2 years ago. I can't even find the Nano for less than $24-26 stateside. I'd be curious to know if you have a link to a compatible/tested/working version of a clone nano from AliExpress or something?

[skree]

I bought the clone nanos off of AliExpress. I don't have a "trusted source". I expect that I'll have a 10-20 percent fail rate with the clones, but they are still cheaper overall. Yes- the price seems to have gone up. I was paying a dollar something for the clones and shipping was next to zero. and now...

[Kb1986]

I am a true novice when dealing with anything like this. I stumbled upon this post when looking for an alternative to buying a "laser target". I wish I knew more about this kind of stuff that way I can voice my question better, but please bear with me. Could one use LED Touch light, take the components out, and add the Arduino like you have? I know you use a milk cap or bottle cap as a defuser for the light and I was wondering if I could just hack a light and do it that way? And I know this next question was asked but never answered; does it have to be 3 AA? Again, not understanding how to get the answer or how to pose the question. If explaining is long winded, I do not mind researching myself. I just need a direction to be pointed in. Thank you for building this!

[skree]

Sorry for the delay. I don't get on here much.
1. Power. I've also used a 9v battery and have also used a USB 5v.
2. Push light. I'm not sure. I would try it. IDK how many batteries the light takes, but if the arduino can get around 5v (the 3 AA's give 4.5 and that's fine) then you could use that to power it. Don't forget to have the photoresistor in there. If you leave the push on/off part of the light still connected, remember to have it on when testing. (This is something I would forget to do and probably spend a long time troubleshooting .)

[DeltaZeroSeven]

HELP
I am only a couple days into my head-first dive into Arduino and would really appreciate some help. With my setup, the LDR is reading 0 in the Serial Monitor and increases when I cover it... I feel I have something backwards. The LED and Buzzer also activate upon covering the LDR. I believe I have everything wired to spec as detailed in this Instructable; 10k Ohm resistor used for LDR.
I appreciate any and all help!

[joebruin79]

Can anyone tell me if the code can be revised and we can use more than one photovoltaic sensors and LEDs so I can use matte plexiglass cutouts (to diffuse the incoming light and outgoing light), preferably make 4 rings like a traditional target? Any guidance will be much appreciated.

[skree]

I don't have my target with me at the moment, but I think, that you could just put in a second photo resistor (PR) in parallel to the other and that should do it without any code change. If you wanted to have another PR activate a different light, you would need to have it go to it's own input (A3, for example) and then have the LED part go to another Output (A4, for example).
In the code, you would have to duplicate the code for the PR, but change it to the new input pin (A3- stated above) and also copy the code for the LED with the new output.

[joebruin79]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I think what you said will most likely work!!! My parts should be arriving from china in 2-3 weeks so I will post an update. Once again, thank you so much!

[BronekK]

Firstly this is so cool!, I'm a real novice when it comes to this, What o was hoping to do was to replace or even better add a light so that you can see you hit the target. I'm planning to mount this into a half size IPSC standard target (centered). Also could I ask you about vibration switches....linked to a laser (pointer), I'm keen to make a DIY version of laser ammo spyder...be interested in your thoughts

[rboatright]

GREAT PROJECT!!!
Laser targets are FAR too expensive. I've been wanting some for quite a while, and I can afford this! I'll be making several. But I do have a question.

i would like to clarify your bill of materials. One is actually a question, the other is a nit-picky comment about terminology.

Photoresistor:
The computer drawn schematic refers to the photoresistor as A1060_09 which is 7.5kΩ when lit and 120kΩ; when dark. On the other hand, the hand drawn schematic says that it's an ~3K ohm resistor. From that, I'm assuming it doesn't really matter much.

I'm hoping that the extremely common GL5537 photoresistor which is 20 to 50 kΩ when lit and 2 or 3 MΩ when dark will work since basically everyone (including adafruit) sells it for use with Arduino. If we really need the lower resistance, the GL5516 is 5 to 10 kΩ when lit, 500 kΩ when dark, or the GL5528 which is 10-20 kΩ lit and 1 kΩ dark. All of those are available for a couple of dollars for 20 or for about $1 each in singles...

Also, you list R2 - the pull-down resistor for the photoresistor as 3 kΩ. In their info sheet for attaching photoresistors to Arduino, adafruit suggests a 10K pull down. Is the lower value because you're using a lower-resistance photocell, or just what you had?

Adafruit's info sheet: https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/737/photocells-...

Buzzer:
The schematic calls out an F/CM12P which is an active buzzer. When calling out parts in a BoM it's a good idea to specify active or passive for generic small piezo buzzers.

[reedjor]

rboatright, were you able to source the materials needed? If so, may I take advantage of your experience by troubling you for links to the components you went with? Thank you!

[skree]

I can't find my invoices, so I'm not sure on the resistor, but I believe that you are correct with the 10K Ohm value. 3k works, I'll try 10 K next time. I added a note on this in the directions. I also added that I used a 3v passive buzzer. (the code had a tone value that you can change)
Thank you for your input.

[skree]

The reason is that I had those parts and more importantly, I am not the greatest with electronics. Some of the build was pieced together by a few different projects I saw around. I put it together and it worked.
So the "greyness" in the instructable comes down to my ignorance....but I'm trying.
I'll edit that image to remove the "F/CM12p" and "A1060_09" I'll have to look up what I used. I'll add it when I find it