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Got kids cutting through your yard all the time? Is the solution a fence? No way that is what everyone else does and is so yesterday… What a true geek does is builds a Computer Controlled Water Spray System to get the job done!
“As you can see I have met a bunch of my goals in prototype 1, I can shoot about 30 feet and can cover a field of fire of about 30 feet. I can also control the movement of the barrel by a servo and a Phidget device. In this version in the top bunker “Window” I have a web camera mounted to the barrel and it shows the video of what it sees as the barrel moves. I control this all via a web page that was written in C# and using ASP 2.0 with a little bit of Ajax thrown in. The most important upgrade was to an open source library that I found called Aforge. Andrew Kirillov has done a fantastic job with his library . It held the foundation of version 2’s code base. It provided me with the motion detection I needed plus had an avi writer sample. He also had some great topics on “codeproject.com” on uses of his library. This is what had me replace the web camera with an IP camera. Other thing that I did was replace all hoses with PVC pipe, I liked the easy setup and flexibility of the hose, but they can not hold up to the pressure day after day. So to recap I still am using the same turret concept in version 1 that was in version 2. I removed the mobile web camera and now have a fixed infrared camera, replaced all hoses with PVC pipes. Added Aforge libraries and his Camera control.”
Via: HackaDay
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October 14th, 2007
Awesome…. but now to step it up.. more pressure.. hot water.. and maybe something to make it smell bad… don’t just train them.. mark them
October 14th, 2007
The problem with Elepski’s suggestion is that the unit is bound to miss, so your side-yard is going to be thoroughly coated with the stuff. (And by stuff, I’m thinking horse urine or minced garlic.) Kids won’t go there, but neither will you or your neighbors.
What about a water cannon, that shoots balls of water instead of a stream. Something that doesn’t just spray them - it soaks their shirts!
Also, a necessary upgrade is a “friendly” marker. Something like an RFID or IR badge that you can give to friends and family, so that they won’t get hit.
October 15th, 2007
Isn’t this thing just gonna attract all the kids in the neighborhood..?
October 15th, 2007
Someone should make an autonomous water spray system… That way it can patrol your yard. You could even get a fleet of them going! THAT would be innovation at it’s finest!
October 16th, 2007
It’s cool and all, but a lower tech (no video control) motion triggered version of this idea is already on the market
http://www.smarthome.com/6120.html
October 16th, 2007
Yeah.. but what is the fun in that
October 20th, 2007
I wonder if I could use something like this to protect a garden from squirrels and other pests.
Also could be useful in chasing away Jehovah’s witnesses etc.
October 22nd, 2007
Lol, good work, just needs better aim, and maybe instead of sweeping a large area get it to sweep 1 m either side of the target.