Smart Bow Sight
Smart Bow Sight
2022
I wanted to make this in order to cheat at bow shooting (not hunting, just archery practice for fun). I made a little battery-powered thing that I stuck on my compound bow, then wired it to a small OLED ziptied to the sight. I tend to spend the least amount of time on the mechanical aspects of my projects.
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The battery-powered thing is really just an Arduino Nano, accelerometer, Li-Po battery, and Li-Po battery charger for a USB power brick. I use then USB power brick charger because it has a tiny boost-converter built into it already for the USB, so I break off the USB port and tap off the 5V for the Arduino.
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This essentially allows one to make sure their bow is firing straight and they aren't tilted. It also allows for distance assistance after one shot is already taken to calibrate.
The Arduino essentially retrieves the values of the accelerometer and displays them on the OLED for which I programmed the interface from scratch. There is a vertical and a horizontal bar on the screen, with a hollow dot and a solid small dot on each line.
The solid dot changes relative to your movement (if you tilt the bow up the dot moves up, likewise with downward/left/right). This allows you to receive direct feedback with how you are aiming and if you are straight or not.
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There is also a small tactile button on the bow which is easy to press with your finger. This button sets the distance you are firing from and moves the vertical hollow dot respective to your distance after you zero the bow out in tilt. You then align the solid dot inside of the hollow dot and your angle should be perfect for the distance you're shooting at (you only need to get left/right angle correct).