Raspberry Pi Retaliation!

After finding Retaliation, a project with a creative solution to build failures in a development team, I knew I had to get it setup for my team. The RPi makes a great fit for this project as well, since it is small, lower power and has both the USB and networking chops to get it done. So when I went looking for a solution for punishing my coworkers, I just had to give it a try. Turns out, hooking it all up was simplicity itself.

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi
• Dream Cheeky Thunder USB Missile Launcher
• Powered USB hub
• USB extenders, mounting hardware, etc as needed for environment

Setup

Step 1 - Install pyusb:

The python-usb yum module is not new enough to work with the retaliation code. Instead download the source for 1.0 from pyusb.

Untar into a directory, then install pyusb with:

# sudo apt-get install python libusb
# sudo python setup.py install

Step 2 - Download retaliation:

# wget https://raw.github.com/codedance/Retaliation/master/retaliation.py
# chmod +x retaliation.py

Step 3 - Connect and test

Connect the missile launcher (I used a powered USB hub) and test with a command such as sudo ./retaliation.py will

Step 4 - Modify the script as needed for your office & enjoy

UPDATE: Thanks so much to the Raspberry PI folks for linking to this article! I took the RPi & launcher into work yesterday, got a great reception - luckily everyone in my group is a good sport and doesn’t mind being shot with foam missiles from time to time. Ordered 2 more RPis for the office (still need to order the launchers and come up with something for stands) to get coverage for the work area, and so I can take my personal RPi back home.

UPDATE 2: See a video of the Raspberry Pi Retaliation in action!

Also, check out my new blog post about controlling the Raspberry Pi Retaliation from Scratch.

Thanks!