This DIY Laser Shooting Gallery Supports Up to 250 Targets

Shooting galleries, where one uses a toy gun to shoot targets that randomly activate, can be a lot of fun. If you've ever considered building one yourself, this project by "Another Maker" should provide some inspiration.

His system runs on a dedicated WiFi network, and uses modular targets — each with its own ESP32 board, rechargeable power supply, laser sensor, and an LED. When activated, the target lights up and waits to be hit by a custom laser gun constructed out of PVC pipe. This gun is powered by the same sort of lipstick-style USB supply as the targets, and controlled by a Wemos D1 mini board.

The real magic of the Node-RED system is that a virtually unlimited number of targets — 250 — can be added to the game. A dedicated router, along with a computer running the game's interface, detects the targets when powered up and adjusts the game accordingly. Each target must be set up with its own ID, name and an MP3 file to be played when triggered. With this configured, everything work seamlessly, showing a simple score interface on the controlling computer's monitor.

If that isn't versatile enough for your application, Another Maker has actually programmed in blank functions for when the target is triggered, hit, and missed. So you could have the targets move, mock an errant shot, and more. Plus, the system doesn't care what type of sensor is hit, meaning laser guns are just one possibility of many!