The initial results were disappointing with the auto-aiming bow unable to actually accurately hit a target. Wighton eventually realized the type of bow he was using required the arrow to be fired around the bow itself, which introduced slight wobbles in its flight that threw it off target. Archers learn to compensate for these arrow flight deviations over time, but Wighton just threw money at the problem and upgraded to a compound bow with a whisker biscuit that guaranteed the arrow flew straight and true with every shot.
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The compound bow introduced another problem: the entire rig became too heavy to hold, and the solution to that problem was—you guessed it—more hardware. Hollywood relies on a wearable device called a Steadicam that attaches a heavy film camera to an articulated spring-loaded arm that’s worn by a camera operator allowing them to capture smooth footage even while running. Instead of a heavy camera, Wighton strapped on a Steadicam rig and attached their auto-aiming bow, which from that point on worked almost flawlessly, even tracking and knocking moving targets out of the air.
The auto-aiming bow wasn’t perfect, however. As Wighton points out at the end of the video its ability to compensate for targets farther away—which requires an archer to aim higher to account for the arched trajectory of an arrow—was completely lacking. The contraption isn’t ready for the Olympics just yet, but version two is already in the process of being designed and improved. At some point, we might see Wighton actually splitting arrows just like Robin Hood did in the movies.
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