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maxmunzel

Hi HN! I commented about this project of mine a month ago [0] and decided to write a more in depth blog post about it.

Feel free to ask any questions :)

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31024099

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What happens when you sit on the balcony?

I love this project! In the spirit of sharing ideas, I would have probably done this full analog. I’d set up a rudimentary analog break beam detector (like what they use to detect if a garage door is cleared to close) beaming across the balcony, and if so, trigger the relay to shoot the gun!

I'm curious, can you share a scan of that police leaflet please?

So how do you aim the water gun? I see no servo motors? Or is it more like a wide spray nozzle?

I don’t aim it at all at the moment. The pigeons mostly land directly behind the railings, as documented by their… presents ;)

A motion activated sprinkler could work too. Or buy a motion detector and have it activate plant water sprayers (the kind used for automatic watering of potted plants).

A cheap solenoid will work with garden watering systems and connections. I made an irrigation system that I added to Home Assistant and it’s great.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/pope-25mm-solenoid-valve-with-flo...

You can get attachments that allow all sorts of jets, drips and spray patterns.

It would probably plug in nicely in place of the water gun. However drilling through the wall and messing with the plumbing isn’t for everyone.

Also works great for keeping kids off your lawn

Did you see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

Actually not, but it looks similar (minus the network insanity)

Are you going to add a second camera?

Interesting question! The geometry of my balcony kind of restricts the number of places that observe the pigeons without spying on my neighbors. Therefore I’m not sure where else I could put another camera.

I’m thinking about a auto-aiming gun for the next iteration, though.

One in each corner of the window of the balcony?

Just add two microphones and try to integrate the sound and video for extra style points?

I wanted to add video recording in the future to gain some lol-points. But to be honest, the still images of the pigeons + my imagination had me jumping like a child in excitement already ;)

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