Hybrid "digital" AR 15 binary trigger

[The Heretic]

Both mechanical and electronic trigger

Digital Trigger for AR-15 Rifles - The Firearm Blog

I don't think people who label things as "digital" just because they use electronics really understand what "digital" means. But whatever.


It has a single shot 1# electronic mode, and a pull/release binary electronic mode that prevents BCG overrun, and it has a "Safe" and "Fire" mode that is purely mechanical - no electronics.

No report on price.

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[Ralgha]

According to Electro-mechanical Trigger - The Firearm Blog, it uses a microprocessor to control it (I imagine it's actually a microcontroller, but whatever), which makes it digital. Any digital circuit has some analog components to it, but an analog circuit doesn't have any digital components. Pure analog circuits are becoming somewhat rare these days, most common are probably antennas, also power systems, and some audio stuff.

Digital circuits are easier to design and less prone to errors, hence their pervasiveness.

 

[IronMonster]

interesting

 

[The Heretic]

According to Electro-mechanical Trigger - The Firearm Blog, it uses a microprocessor to control it (I imagine it's actually a microcontroller, but whatever), which makes it digital.

I am guessing it probably also has analog components. Almost anything that interfaces with the real world, especially something that controls mechanical components, is both digital and analog.

Almost everything electronic today has a microprocessor involved, that doesn't necessarily make it "digital". My '92 Toyota 4x4 has a small microprocessor or three in the EFI/ignition, but the throttle is still totally mechanical, whereas the throttle on my BMW is totally "digital".

It is just a marketing term they throw out - just like they used to use the term "transistorized" early on when still using totally discrete components before they started using integrated circuits.

 

[Ralgha]

Having analog components does not mean it's an analog circuit. When you drill all the way down to the basic building blocks of a circuit, any circuit, it's all analog components. Even a transistor is an analog component, the way it's used can generate a digital signal and drive a digital circuit. It's how the signals are used rather than what the components are.

Any digital circuit will have analog components such as resistors, capacitors, etc., but what defines it as digital is the signals it operates on. Digital circuits frequently have analog outputs with which they interface to analog components, such as speakers, some motors, perhaps some lights, an antenna, etc., that still does not make them analog circuits. You can also not (usually) accurately refer to an entire machine as digital or analog, your '92 Toyota has digital circuits and analog ones both, as does your BMW.

One could argue that a trigger, mechanical or otherwise, is actually a digital machine. It's either "on" or "off", there is no in between. The crispness of the break would be the only point of contention, but look at a digital signal on a scope, it's not always very clean either, the transition doesn't really matter (to a point), that's the beauty of a digital signal.

I suppose one could argue that, if the interface between the microcontroller and the solenoid that controls the trigger is analog, calling it a "digital trigger" is misleading, but that would be a stretch in my opinion. I'm perfectly comfortable with their use of "digital".

"Transistorized" was a marketing term, but it was not inaccurate. You can purchase and use individual transistors still today in a circuit, that would "transistorize" the circuit.

 

[The Heretic]

Without getting into a debate about analog vs. digital components (it is very simple to me - a digital component or IC uses only a "digital signal", i.e., only low or high voltage or discrete, not analog which uses an analog voltage with no steps) - almost any electronics that interface with the "real world" will have some components or an interface with analog voltages.

E.G., many electro-mechanical systems will have an analog to digital conversion interface of some sort. Your smartphone, while mostly being a digital device, still converts the analog signal from a microphone to digital data that it can use, and vice versa (digital data to analog signal to produce sound that you can hear via a speaker).

The line is blurred, but this only makes my point; almost everything electronic today has a blend of both digital and analog, and saying something is "digital" this or "digital" that is just so much marketing hype and adds no real value as far as being informative.