Description

Mounting a paintball marker onto a machine or robot securely is a bit of a pain. It's easy if your machine doesn't move - you can just use hose clamps or velcro ties - but as soon as things get interesting, it gets complicated.
For another project, I needed a paintball marker that was:
- Securely mounted: Hose clamps and velcro ties didn't cut it
- Not breaking: Bumps, twists, high speed should not make parts fall off
- Quick to service: If something did go wrong, I didn't want to undo bolts
- Electronic firing

I designed a mount to replace the handle of a Tippmann A-5 that allows secure, fast mounting and electronic control.

Details

Problem

We wanted to put paintball markers on buggies. Originally I started with a traditional hack, by buying electronic markers, soldering onto their PCBs, and bolting them down. We quickly discovered some disadvantages to this technique.

Our high-vibration application meant we were breaking a lot of balls inside the hopper and marker. My hacked approach meant that sometimes wires broke. When this happened we would have to stop and clean everything out, or change markers. Since they were bolted down, that was a real pain. It took 2 people working together 2 minutes to change a marker.

Solution

We decided to change markers to the Tippmann A-5 since they have a reputation for being reliable, and to design a proper mount for them that would both hold them securely, and allow for a fast change of a fouled marker.

Components

1 × Tippmann A-5 http://ca.tippmann.com/p/a-5-basic-marker?pp=24

1 × 138mm (5.5") of 31.5mm (1 1/4") Aluminum Square profile

1 × 138mm (5.5") of 25mm (1") Aluminum U profile

1 × Marker solenoid L1

1 × Custom marker PCB If only I could post Gerbers or something...

Project Logs

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Programmer
Nathan Gray • 08/20/2014 at 17:48 • 0 comments

The circuit boards use pads instead of pins for the ICSP connection, which means I use pogo pins to connect the programmer. I made a handy setup to hold the board in place while its firmware is loaded.
Read more »
Source
Nathan Gray • 08/19/2014 at 00:45 • 0 comments

Source code, released under GPL 2
Read more »
Libraries
Nathan Gray • 08/16/2014 at 23:58 • 0 comments

The firmware uses the Arduino EEPROM library:
http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/EEPROM
and the TinyWire library:
https://github.com/rambo/TinyWire
as well as the Arduino-Tiny core:
https://code.google.com/p/arduino-tiny/
Firing demo
Nathan Gray • 08/16/2014 at 23:24 • 0 comments

What good is this without video of it firing?

The mount on the test stand and on the buggy.
It doesn't show up on the video, but there is another green LED that lights when firing.
Introduction video
Nathan Gray • 08/14/2014 at 03:19 • 0 comments

Wow. Making the thing is easier than making the video.
I'm now even more impressed by those who make high quality videos clearly and concisely demonstrating something.
This video introduces some of my other attempts and reasons for wanting to build this one.

View all 5 project logs

Discussions

nealshawn94 wrote 11/07/2023 at 17:36

You really did a great job making this paintball marker mount object. I want to embed it with my website. You can see it here: http://www.paintballinsight.com/

Are you sure? yes | no

John Bracket wrote 05/08/2022 at 16:59

A good paintball mask is exclusively designed to increase the chances of winning and at the same time guarantee your safety. Read Here: https://paintballzoo.com/best-paintball-mask/

Are you sure? yes | no

abby gujjar wrote 01/06/2021 at 06:37

wow this is so nice. do you want to feature it on

https://mypaintballnation.com/best-paintball-guns-under-300/

Are you sure? yes | no

Jesse M. wrote 08/22/2014 at 13:14

I am interested in the spring loaded contact that looks like you use as a middle man connector. Do you have a part number for that?

Are you sure? yes | no

Nathan Gray wrote 08/22/2014 at 15:40

Full BOM added.
That one was a pain to find. It's from the Bourns 70AA series. Specifically it's a
70AAJ-6-M0G
and in normal life it's a battery connector. Just make sure you provide good physical constraints so there's no lateral movement, or they can cross-connect.
Here's a link to the general category:
http://ca.mouser.com/Power/Battery-Holders-Clips-Contacts/Battery-Contacts/_/N-ciczr/

Are you sure? yes | no

Nathan Gray wrote 08/20/2014 at 15:47

I do have a few complete units and a handful of most of the other components, if anyone wants.

Are you sure? yes | no

Paintball Marker Mount

Description

Details

Problem

Solution

Components

Project Logs

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Programmer

Source

Libraries

Firing demo

Introduction video

Discussions

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