Mini Teleport Units
From Shadows LRP had it's fourth event on the 25th-27th of Oct. The previous teleport return unit was quite successful so those asked for some more units to be made, only this time they should be a bit smaller so they are more manageable and store-able. Because I didn't have the original unit to hand I opted to make them half the size, in hindsight this feels a little bit small but they are super cute versions of the full blown unit.
When you push the button the software comes out of sleep mode and counts down from 10 to zero. At zero the whole thing flashes to indicate that the team has 'teleported' in or out of the situation. The unit uses a USB battery bank for rechargeable power but one charge was sufficient to last the whole weekend. As the unit is smaller is was swung around a bit more and there were a few minor issues with cables coming lose internally so I had to strain relief the battery in the middle of Saturday and, players being players, someone jammed a bird feed cage (prop) inside one of the units which caused some damage as it was extricated. The generally held up well though and minimal changes will need to be made before the next event.
This time around I used a 60mm button and a smaller dot matrix screen but I used the same WS2812 chain to add the led's inside the device.
One of the best things about the props being used at 'From Shadows' is that the awesome photographer, Tony Berzins, gets some great pictures of these things in action.