Automatic Clay Thrower Upgrade

Upgrading the Clay Thrower

One day I got to thinking about how great it would be to be able to use my clay thrower by myself. It would be nice to practice and work on my shooting skills without having to rely on someone to throw the pigeons for me.  I guess the other option is to get more friends, but this seemed easier. I have an automatic thrower but I still need someone to push the button to throw the birds. 

So I decided to build a circuit that would accept the input from a remote, wait a specific period of time and then launch the pigeon. This would give me the ability to press the button, then get into a shooting stance and get the shotgun ready before the pigeon launches.

I did a little research online and found that I could get an Arduino embedded processor for about $12, a remote transmitter and receiver for about $6, and a relay to switch the thrower for about $7. So off to Amazon I went and ordered a few components. 

My original plan was to have the buttons do different things. I wanted one configuration to wait 5 seconds after the button press and then launch the pigeon and the second button to wait 5 seconds after the button press then launch a pigeon, then wait 3 seconds and launch a second pigeon. 

The problem that I had was that the $6 remote that I bought had a problem with it. All of the buttons switched all of the switches. So I was not able to have the two configurations.  I guess when you make something for $6 the quality control is not that great. 

So, off to amazon I went and bought another remote. 

Here is my system wired up with the new remote receiver and mounted in the enclosure. In this case is the Arduino Processor, the Wireless Receiver for the Remote, and a Relay Board that will switch the Thrower.

I had a toggle switch with a MIL Spec arming cover laying around for years. I decided that this was the prefect project to use it on. It adds a little bit of cool factor. 

The Arduino processor is configurable with a psudo "C" code that is written on a PC and then uploaded via a USB port to the Processor. 

I have been an Engineer for over 20 years, but I have never written a line of code. I read a few tutorials online and stole some code from the Arduino example code and cobbled together the code to do what I wanted the Arduino to do. 

Button A = When A Button is pressed, wait 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower). This should throw one Pigeon

Button B = When B Button is pressed, wait 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower), wait an additional 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower). This should throw 2 Pigeons.

Here is my system, The Thrower, Battery, and My Controller. 

 Here is a close up of my switch, and the enclosure. 

 Here is a video of the thrower working. 

Button A = When A Button is pressed, wait 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower). This should throw one Pigeon

Button B = When B Button is pressed, wait 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower), wait an additional 5 seconds and then switch the thrower for 1.3 seconds (Time needed to throw the pigeon and reset the thrower). This should throw 2 Pigeons.

I guess I no longer have an excuse for my poor shooting skills.