Laser Tag

This uses a programmer to setup the game. In addition is supports adding bases, health/ammo packs, etc.

Parts

Guns

• IR LED
• IR Receiver (multiple in thhe future to allow for being shot in multiple places)
• Microcontroller (Arduino Nano ~$5/each)
• Battery
• A few buttons for firing and reloading
• Optional: LCD screen for showing health, ammo, etc. (~$6/each)

Programmer

Either a wifi enabled microcontroller or any microcontroller with a USB connection and a computer.

Overview of gameplay

Use programmer to setup each gun. The programmer will send a IR signal containing the game variables to each of the guns.

Guns then send a IR signal to other guns to indicate shooting. Each guns stores its own health and ammo in addition to game constants (eg. Game Mode, Team, Auto reload, etc).

Each team can have a base which will be sending out a constant signal. Any player of the same team that is within range of the base will be able to respawn and/or heal.

Optional packs act similar to bases but are not team specific. They can be used to heal or reload ammo.

Signals

I'm thinking of using a 4 byte signal to send any data. The first byte will be the sender's ID, the second byte will be the command, and the last two bytes will be any other data.

Sender IDs

Reserved Sender	ID	Notes
Programmer	0x00
Team Base for respawns (2nd digit is team ID)	0x10-1F	This allows for up to 16 teams
Health/ammo packs (2nd digit is pack type)	0x20-0x2F	This allows for up to 16 pack types
Gun ID (can be the same for teams)	0xE0-0xFF	Might need to allocate more if we want more than 32 players

Commands that guns receive

Command	1st byte	2nd byte	3rd byte	4th byte
Set Gun option	Sender ID (should be programmer)	0x00	Option Type	Option Value
Shot	Sender ID (gun or optionally other weapons such as grenades)	0x10	Damage	Gun type (for optional statuses)
Respawn	Sender ID (should be team base)	0x11	Optional data such as delay	0x00
Pack	Sender ID (should be pack)	0x12	Pack Type	Pack Value

Commands that guns send

Command	1st byte	2nd byte	3rd byte	4th byte
Shot	Sender ID (gun)	0x10	Damage	Gun type (for optional statuses)

Gun options

Option	ID	Values	Notes
ID	0x00	0x00-0x1F	This corresponds to Gun IDs 0xE0-0xFF
Ammo Capacity	0x01	0x00-0xFF
Health Capacity	0x02	0x00-0xFF
Auto Reload	0x03	0x00-0x01
Auto Respawn	0x04	0x00-0x01
Gun Type	0x05	0x00-0xFF	This is used to identify the gun type for optional statuses
Starting Health	0x10	0x00-0xFF	To be used when the game starts or gun respawns
Starting Ammo	0x10	0x00-0xFF	As above

Shooting

Before firing the shooter will check if it is still alive and has ammo. If it is it will decrement the ammo left before sending a Shot signal with the GUN ID, damage, and gun type. The gun will then check if it is on auto reload. If it is, it will check if the ammo is less than the max ammo. If it is, it will reload the ammo.

If the target is in line of sight they will receive the signal. The target will then check if the sender is a valid gun and if so, check if it is on the same team (using the sender ID). If it is not on the same team, it will take damage and check if it is dead.