What do you do when you’re so good at video games that playing against family and friends loses its appeal? According to Nick, the founder of YouTube channel Basically Homeless, the ideal solution is a combination of woodworking, hardware hacking and unusual software tricks.
He created a motorized aiming assist system that moves the pad itself under the mouse, giving anyone playing on that table top gamer and headshot skills. The system uses a computer vision model that follows the screen and recognizes the targets, then moves the pad for perfectly accurate aiming. In practice, the system worked so well and seamlessly that some adversaries thought they were naturally talented at quick aiming.
How the hardware aim assist works
The final version of the moving pad worked great, but the manufacturing process was unusual. Before deciding on the final construction, Nick drilled a large hole in the surface of the table, dimensions slightly smaller than the large mouse pad he had chosen. He tried several displacement mechanisms, eventually settling on a control panel from an Xdraw A4 drawing board, which fit the pre-made holes and dimensions of the substrate.
After hacking around to discover that the board uses a standard GRBL controller, commanding the mechanism was quite simple. He mounted the mechanical part of the moving base under the table, and then attached the base itself above it. It also required some 3D printing for the ideal inserts and gaps to allow for smooth movement.
The most demanding step would be much more complicated if not for the YOLO computer vision model available. Nick used YOLO to monitor what was happening on the screen. Based on this, the software calculated the necessary movements and sent serial commands to the GRBL mechanism. When the system detected a target in the vicinity of the scope, the mechanized gantry would instantly move the platform into the perfect position for a headshot.
The best example of how seamlessly the system worked was seen by Olivia at the end of the video. At first, she believed she was naturally good at games, until Nick, out of scientific curiosity, turned off the aiming aid. She quickly accused him of cheating, so the system was turned back on to bring back the charm of gaming, writes Tomshardware.