January 15, 2013 at 09:59Click-n-fire interface - sniper rifle with Linux on board
The news, completely undeservedly ignored by Habré - TrackingPoint introduced a sniper rifle with an eye, running Linux.
Why undeservedly?
Company TrackingPoint, Inc. founded in February 2011 by John McHale, an avid hunter and founder of several IT companies - NetWorth (bought by Compaq), NetSpeed (bought by Cisco), TippingPoint (bought by 3COM), BreakingPoint (bought by IXIA). In addition, McHale worked on anti-tank missile guidance systems and accuracy improvements for various tank systems.
Note to the start-up worker is, apparently, a non-poor person, with rich experience in IT and management.
The idea of a computer-controlled rifle came to his mind in the 2009th, on a safari in Africa, when he missed the Thompson gazelle due to too difficult shooting conditions. The result of the research is a relatively inexpensive sniper rifle - about $ 20,000 - with a scope that is controlled by the suspiciously familiar principle of clicking the index finger on the button and allows even a perfect teapot to instantly become a sniper.
System components:
- the rifle itself, with a technical accuracy of less than an angular minute;
- Networked Tracking Scope (NTS)
- computer-controlled trigger mechanism
- system for maintaining the correct position of the sight relative to the barrel - Barrel Reference System
- button for capturing the target
The sight has
- microphone
- compass
- accelerometer
- ballistic calculator
- laser range finder
- pressure and temperature sensors
- Filters for shooting in low light conditions
- Target tracking software
- Wifi server
- USB ports
The general scheme of the system’s operation is as follows — the shooter points a special marker at the target and clicks on the target capture button. The sight captures the target, analyzes the environment, distance and transfers the crosshairs of the sight to where, according to his calculations, the bullet should fly. Then, when combined with the mark on the target, the crosshairs of the sight are highlighted - you can shoot. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to shoot at all, and the rifle walks in your hands so that it’s impossible to fix properly on the target. A computer-controlled trigger will not let the shot go “out of time”. If desired, all this is turned off and the NTS works just like a sophisticated scope.
The sight can be controlled from a mobile application for iOS or Android, you can also record and save video shots on a mobile device, download updates and change various settings. Another application allows you to watch a video stream from a sight, which can be useful for the second in a sniper pair.
There is a video of the hunting process on the official website, but I felt sorry for the animals, so I don’t insert it here. Video of the shooting process at the firing range:
On specialized weapons resources, they were joking about automatically posting photos and videos to FB and Instagram, as well as about raising Apache on Linux so that each rifle had its own website.
Why undeservedly?
- The main part of the system is not a rifle, but a sight and software on it
- A sight is not quite a sight, but rather a full-fledged computer with a display, with a bunch of interfaces and functions
- This is a startup.
Company TrackingPoint, Inc. founded in February 2011 by John McHale, an avid hunter and founder of several IT companies - NetWorth (bought by Compaq), NetSpeed (bought by Cisco), TippingPoint (bought by 3COM), BreakingPoint (bought by IXIA). In addition, McHale worked on anti-tank missile guidance systems and accuracy improvements for various tank systems.
Note to the start-up worker is, apparently, a non-poor person, with rich experience in IT and management.
The idea of a computer-controlled rifle came to his mind in the 2009th, on a safari in Africa, when he missed the Thompson gazelle due to too difficult shooting conditions. The result of the research is a relatively inexpensive sniper rifle - about $ 20,000 - with a scope that is controlled by the suspiciously familiar principle of clicking the index finger on the button and allows even a perfect teapot to instantly become a sniper.
System components:
- the rifle itself, with a technical accuracy of less than an angular minute;
- Networked Tracking Scope (NTS)
- computer-controlled trigger mechanism
- system for maintaining the correct position of the sight relative to the barrel - Barrel Reference System
- button for capturing the target
The sight has
- microphone
- compass
- accelerometer
- ballistic calculator
- laser range finder
- pressure and temperature sensors
- Filters for shooting in low light conditions
- Target tracking software
- Wifi server
- USB ports
The general scheme of the system’s operation is as follows — the shooter points a special marker at the target and clicks on the target capture button. The sight captures the target, analyzes the environment, distance and transfers the crosshairs of the sight to where, according to his calculations, the bullet should fly. Then, when combined with the mark on the target, the crosshairs of the sight are highlighted - you can shoot. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to shoot at all, and the rifle walks in your hands so that it’s impossible to fix properly on the target. A computer-controlled trigger will not let the shot go “out of time”. If desired, all this is turned off and the NTS works just like a sophisticated scope.
The sight can be controlled from a mobile application for iOS or Android, you can also record and save video shots on a mobile device, download updates and change various settings. Another application allows you to watch a video stream from a sight, which can be useful for the second in a sniper pair.
There is a video of the hunting process on the official website, but I felt sorry for the animals, so I don’t insert it here. Video of the shooting process at the firing range:
On specialized weapons resources, they were joking about automatically posting photos and videos to FB and Instagram, as well as about raising Apache on Linux so that each rifle had its own website.