It started with a simple project. An idea to help a practical shooting community with a need that had very few viable solutions. An electronic stop plate for recording par times for IPSC was needed at an affordable price. The original intention was to create a solution that is reliable and affordable to produce and sell.

An experienced hardware engineer would take on this project with back and forth consulting with the local shooting community before the first draft released. It did not take long for the project to be a success with the intent to sell as an off the shelf product, however some refinement was needed. 

With the addition of a close friend and more importantly, experienced software engineer, the first production ready version of the stop plate was tested. This milestone in the duo’s efforts led to a long conversation about the future of these projects. There was much conversation about open sourcing to help the community and provide the resources needed for a community to improve upon the design, in opposition to manufacturing and selling products.

What swayed the decision to open sourcing? The wives… and the need to avoid having more than two jobs and no life. Although a lot of cost in time and effort was placed in the first project, it was decided that these projects would be open sourced. 

Two engineers… A bucket full of ideas… And a company name based on a cartoon called Trumpton?