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The Hacksmith: Borderlands 2 Screaming Gun

19

2020-07-23 | By The Hacksmith

License: See Original Project

This project was created by Engineering Superheroes of Hackmith Industries.

DO NOT ATTEMPT to Re-Create

The second game in the Borderlands series — an action-packed first-person shooter video game — introduced Borderlands fans to a gun with great stats. Although a high performing gun, that performance came at a price, or, more accurately, a near-constant unpleasant voice. This weapon is known as the screaming gun. Each time the screaming gun is fired, reloaded, or even swapped, the player is bombarded with a high-pitched voice one might compare to nails on a chalkboard.

Having brought many video game weapons to life in the past, Hacksmith Industries decided to replicate the screaming gun. With some design improvements and the help of a Teensy 3.5 development board, the Hacksmith team created a screaming gun with several voice options. Whether this screaming gun is more or less bothersome is in the ear of the beholder, but this version is customized to feature more soothing voices like Slyvester Stallone and Bob Ross. See how it works in the video below!

 

How Does it Work?

The Nerf gun used to make this project was deconstructed to make room for the electronics that needed to fit inside. Luckily, Nerf guns are fairly hollow, providing a lot of space for added improvements. This Nerf gun had plenty of room for a microcontroller, switches, a speaker and headphone jack, and a prop shield for the Teensy that includes an accelerometer. All of these components were combined to create a circuit that makes noise from the speaker whenever the gun is fired, reloaded, or shaken.

The component responsible for making this project run is the Teensy 3.5 development board. The Teensy houses the program that runs the screaming gun’s systems. This includes reading the data from the accelerometer, changing voices with the knob (16 of them), sensing when the trigger is pulled, and sending that signal to the speaker so the gun can make sound. The voice recordings are stored in an SD that can be placed in and removed from the board, so more voices can be added to the collection in the future.

More Shooting Hacksmith Creations

There are many more Hacksmith creations from video games that shoot projectiles (or lasers) on Maker.io. Check out some past Hacksmith projects below:

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Misc

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