MADE INVADERS?

Made Invaders - A Makerspace Creation

In the 1970s and 80s shooting galleries that used simple light detection were everywhere. The rifle would emit a simple pulse of light, and if that light happened to strike a sensor it would trigger a sequence of automated actions, typically involving sound and simple movement of mannequins. This humble game was brought into the 21st century using microcontrollers, Raspberry Pi's and wireless radio communications. But why was it made and what did it take to bring it to life?

Made Invaders was a research and development project that was created to showcase the skills and talents of the makers that make up DoES Liverpool. Costing £1000 this project came to life as we wanted to create a another large project that would accurately show the diverse skills that DoES contains. We worked on electronics, laser cut construction pieces, player registration software, vinyl art decoration. All of this was made possible thanks to the makers, hackers and artists that make up the community at DoES.

Made Invaders is a real life, full size shooting range, a cross between Space Invaders and Time Crisis. Housed inside of a 3㎡ enclosure, we have a firing range full of reactive targets designed and built using a laser cutter and housing electronics that react to impacts and display digital explosions. Players receive 30 seconds to hit as many targets as possible using safe foam darts, to achieve the highest score possible!