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DIY FireHero Project

Posted by samzenpus on from the I'm-burning-for-you dept.

If you have a propane tank, an ultrasonic sensor, a copy of Guitar Hero and a touch of pyromania, this is the project for you. From the article: "For version 1 of FireHero, the player simply watches a video of the guitar hero chart and plays on the guitar accordingly. Version 2 of FireHero will have a much better system, with Autoplay functionality. I will be able to take a custom guitar hero chart, convert it into a MIDI file, and use Processing to analyze it and play FireHero to the track."

27 comments

  1. Song choice by MikeDX · · Score: 2

    Was it just me that thought the song was going to be "Through the fire and flames?"

    1. Re:Song choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He said that the second version will be playing this.

    2. Re:Song choice by DBCubix · · Score: 1

      Or "We Didn't Start the Fire."

      --
      I called it a mighty Sperm Whale, she called it Finding Nemo.
  2. More like fiery death by name_already_taken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I use the same quick-disconnect fittings for compressed air. They leak like crazy when you move the hoses around. Using them for propane is just asking to die a horribly fiery death. Propane is heavier than air, so it will accumulate on the ground until it finds a source of ignition.

    I have to wonder why he's using copper tubing to connect the tanks instead of propane hose. The proper materials are not hard to find, and the copper will fail after it gets bent a few times. Once again, fiery death when you least expect it.

    --
    Putting moderation advice in your .sig lowers your karma!
    1. Re:More like fiery death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Minds me of early versions of "The Anarchist's Cookbook" - all kinds of safety information missing, almost as if they were secretly published by a govt. agency in the hopes of having any would-be anarchists BLOW THEMSELVES UP!

    2. Re:More like fiery death by McGregorMortis · · Score: 1

      And that's on the high-pressure side too.

      I think modern propane tanks have some kind of fancy valve that closes if the flow-rate gets too high. But how much do you trust it?

    3. Re:More like fiery death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      RTFA, student on a budget and well aware of the safety issues.

    4. Re:More like fiery death by Checkered+Daemon · · Score: 2

      As with anything, common sense helps. The Burning Man people have been playing around with stuff like this for years, without anyone getting hurt. But then, we tend to be pretty careful with our toys (I have a poofer that shoots 30 ft. fireballs that I've been using for ten years). A friend of mine spearheaded Dance Dance Immolation a while back, where she shot propane torches at dancers (wearing full fire suits) who missed their moves. Yes, we play with fire, but we're good at it. If anyone's interested, there are several fire art collectives in the San Francisco Bay Area, including The Crucible and the Flaming Lotus Girls, that you could contact about safety issues. The Crucible even has classes.

    5. Re:More like fiery death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think they have a flow-rate shut off. There is a fill level shutoff though.

    6. Re:More like fiery death by jdoverholt · · Score: 1

      The tank on my grill has a flow rate cut-off. I connected it when the valves were all open by accident and it locked itself shut. Had to turn everything off and let it sit for 15 minutes to reset itself.

  3. But what about.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Rock Inferno (formerly also titled Fire Hero)? It was at burning man this year. It's a much more evolved version of this (probably where these guys got the idea actually)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXVL4yTizcU

  4. Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its too bad "Great White" did not have this.

    1. Re:Awesome by countSudoku() · · Score: 1

      They did... and many Bothans died... :(

      --
      This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
  5. For Awesome color effects by Jtheletter · · Score: 1

    He should install a set of small cylinders a few inches above each flame spout, something like a vegetable can with both ends cut off. In the center of each cylinder suspend a wire mesh, onto which you can place various salts. When the flame is forced through each cylinder the salts will burn and color the flame. Been a long time since chem class in which we burned salts/chemicals of various types over a burner but it should be pretty easy to find a list online of which materials produce which colors. It would be pretty awesome if each flame column was the color of the corresponding guitar buttons. :) Good luck, and do try not to blow yourself up.

    --
    -- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
    1. Re:For Awesome color effects by madsci1016 · · Score: 2

      I'm already building it, though differently then you suggested and scaled down for indoor demonstration. FWIW, I'm the guy that wrote the Arduino PS2 controller library he is using. http://www.billporter.info/playstation-2-controller-arduino-library-v1-0/

  6. Ok... by interval1066 · · Score: 1

    I get the technical aspect, its a cool hack. But the result is not something anyone needs to write home about. 5 nozzles spitting fire in sync to music. Am I just jaded?

    --
    Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    1. Re:Ok... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, yes you are.

    2. Re:Ok... by Jfire · · Score: 2

      What about this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXVL4yTizcU

    3. Re:Ok... by blair1q · · Score: 1

      No.

      But it is probably the ultimate way to make someone playing Guitar Hero sound even less like they're playing a guitar than a Guitar Hero controller does already.

    4. Re:Ok... by socz · · Score: 1

      yeah a little, me too... but, what if they actually incorporate this into a live show? now THAT would be awesome! No more "rock star gets burned when pyrotechnic effect goes off at wrong time." I would rock that on stage! Guitar, drums, bass oh yeah!

      --
      My abilities are only limited by my imagination
    5. Re:Ok... by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 1

      For the other extreme, get the Fender Squier Stratocaster Pro Controller for Rock Band 3, a real guitar with midi pickups and some xbox 360 buttons for playing Rock Band 3 in Pro mode.

      This would be more awesome if it had 6 flames and they were hooked into the different strings of the Squier guitar, with perhaps flame size matching position down the string.

  7. More Compete Version Already Out There by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rock Inferno originally called Fire Hero... this version is a little more complete: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXVL4yTizcU

  8. Utter waste of time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wish I had that much of it to burn.

  9. Rock Inferno by Jfire · · Score: 2

    Rock Inferno originally called Fire Hero Presented at Burning Man 2010... this version is a little more complete: http://arsoniccreations.com/rockinferno.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXVL4yTizcU

  10. Hanukkah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They could all a couple more nozzles and sell these as hardcore Hanukkiyas.

  11. Great hack of the Guitar Hero files. by Lashat · · Score: 2

    I would love to see the different colors applied.

    --
    For every benefit you receive a tax is levied. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
  12. Frets on Fire by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Ah finally, Frets on Fire taken to its logical conclusion.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife