Nick Chiocchio

Simple Infrared Target

Visit my website www.rctankhobby.com.

Here is a sample of the development of a product. I designed a small target for the infrared battle tanks that would illuminate two LEDs when shot at by an infrared capable tank. There are various manufacturers and systems available and this was intended to work with them all. The first design was simple and only had the two LEDs, then I added a small relay to switch a commercially available sound board to include an explosion sound when hit.

I then decided to use a battery holder in a way so it would rest more securely on the ground. This is the current configuration. The additional components made the circuit board taller and thus less stable, using the battery holder in this manner improved the stability and is a big improvement.

Battle Circuit, first prototype to current version

Here is the evolution of a “Battle Circuit” I designed to interact with an infrared combat system from the model company Tamiya. This system is sold as a hop up for their 1/16 scale remote control tanks so they can combat each other similar to the way laser tag works. The system was only available for installation in the tanks and I wanted to have other types of interactive targets, so I set out to make my own.

These are the next two prototypes where I used a commercial PCB manufacturer and therefore utilized double sided boards. The first one was still using only through hole components, most of these I had on hand. When interest in this became apparent I started to source surface mount to get more parts on the 3.8” x 2.5” board size limitation. You can see some post design modifications on the second board.

The second board above has connections for the infrared LED, the detector assembly that receives signals from the tank or another board like this, signals for a sound module, gun flash LED and a trigger connection. There is also a miniature connection to accept the Tamiya detector assembly often referred to as the “apple”.

A jumper is used to control how many hits the unit will receive before it “dies” and a DIP switch to set the firing rate. There is also a connection to control a relay that can power down the device using this board for combat so when it “dies” it really is out of the game.

Here is the latest version in my test bed. Six AA cells can power it and in the lower left a detector board is shown with the four detector modules. The speaker is driven by a commercially available sound board. The yellow pushbutton is the trigger and this can be anything from a pushbutton to a positive pulse from another circuit. There are several options depending upon how the user configures its operation. This can be mounted in a vehicle, one group has them set up to act as a mine field using ultrasonic detectors to detect the tank’s movement.

You will notice that there is no solder mask or silkscreening on the PCB. This is for cost savings as the most expensive item is the PCB itself. Since I designed the electronics and PCB layout assembly is no problem for me. The last step before I use or ship a board is to conformal coat the board.

I’m just finalizing the design on a similar circuit board that interacts with the Forces of Valor 1/24 scale series of infrared combat tanks. You can read more about this on my rctankhobby.com website.