Continuing on the PCB idea - given that there's no need for plated through holes, you can buy and etch it yourself. A 48"x36" double sided copper clad board is about $32, and if you cut it into 8"x9" sheets you'll get 24 PCBs. ( from http://www.crownhill.co.uk/product.php?prod=1971 - I imagine you can get it locally for similar cost) Use a screen printer to put etch resist on each side, etch and viola! Each target costs $1.33 and some amount of time. -Adam On 4/16/08, M. Adam Davis wrote: > How much can you pay per target? > > Get 64 conductor ribbon cable (3.2" wide) and lay two of them > vertically next to each other, and 2 of them horizontally next to each > other behind the paper. > > Attach connectors to them, which plug into PCBs nearby. > > Use a bunch of multiplexors to scan continuity through all 200 wires, > and compute exact bullet penetration to within 0.05". > > It's a very low cost system with high cost replacables - each target > would use perhaps 4 feet of cable and 8 connectors that would be > reusable for a few targets, but in the end each target would still > cost $12 or more, and it would only cover a 6.4" x 6.4" square. > > With relatively intelligent scan interpretaion you can use one array > for more than one target - even if the bullet goes through the same > hole, it's unlikely that it'll be exact to within 0.05" and miss all > four remaining wires bounding the hole. > > Low cost start up, high cost consumables, or high cost start up, low > or no cost consumables? > > If it works well, you could probably buy or have someone weave custom > wire cloth with stripped ends that clamps into a frame of contacts. > Even if several wires never make contact, or short out, you'll still > have more than enough information for reasonably good position > information. This could cost less than a dollar per mesh. You might > even be able to find such mesh available right now, and can strip the > ends after trimming chemically, or design the frame to pierce the > insulation. Window screen comes to mind. > > Lastely, in quantity PCBs are very cheap. If you get a very thin PCB > (not standard FR4) then it won't shatter with a bullet. Buy in > quantity, have one edge for all the contacts and use an edge > connector. Should be $5 to $0.50 each depending on quantity and size. > Double sided, not plated through, no mask, no silkscreen. Very, very > cheap in huge quantities. Or print the target in white silkscreen on > top of a black soldermask on one side. Lots of options there. With > space/trace requirements of cheap PCBs approaching 8/8 mil, you could > get a resolution of 0.016" or 62 lines per inch. With no testing and > lower PCB quality control you can lower the cost because you don't > really care if a few dozen traces are bad or shorted. > > Feel free to send my royalty checks when you hit it big. Alternately, > encourage me to make one as a summer project so I can make it big. > > ;-) > > -Adam > > On 4/16/08, Vic Fraenckel wrote: > > As the OP I apologize for making this such a complicated question. All I > > wanted was some ideas as to how to make an 'intelligent' target that will be > > able to say 'that shot was in the 9 ring at 2 O'clock or that shot was a > > bullseye' and perhaps report the coordinates of where the bullet passed thru > > the plane of the target. Of course the intelligent target must have a paper > > target for the shooter to aim at. But the scoring would be done by the > > 'Intelligent Target' not an observer. > > > > Vic > > > > -- > > ______________________________________________________________ > > > > Victor Fraenckel > > KC2GUI > > windswaytoo ATSIGN gmail DOT com > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > -- > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Moving in southeast Michigan? Buy my house: http://ubasics.com/house/ > > Interested in electronics? Check out the projects at http://ubasics.com > > Building your own house? Check out http://ubasics.com/home/ > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Moving in southeast Michigan? Buy my house: http://ubasics.com/house/ Interested in electronics? Check out the projects at http://ubasics.com Building your own house? Check out http://ubasics.com/home/ -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist