FOG HORN
March 2018 Twobirds Flying Publication
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
Copyright 2018, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System By: Sal Palma
influence what the muzzle does at any given time? If we wrap time around muzzle movement, we can identify three timeslots; just before the trigger break, the trigger pull itself and movement after the trigger break. Then, If we electronically measure the physical movement during each of those time slots, we can precisely determine what the muzzle is doing and correlate that movement to the mechanics of grip, trigger finger placement, etc.
I spent a considerable amount of time imagining what, if any, activities aren’t enhanced through regular and effective training. Language skills, computational skill and athletics all require more than just initial training, they also demand ongoing training and that training must be regular and effective. This is especially true for shooting. Training however can be a double edge sword, particularly if unsupervised where a trainee could easily end up reinforcing bad habits and techniques.
Working with a trainer is one way of achieving good results but it’s expensive and not always practical; furthermore, an instructor lacks the granularity to precisely asses what your weapon is doing before during and after the shot, and unsupervised training doesn’t provide the critical input a trainee needs to avoid reinforcing bad habits. So, what’s needed is a system that can be used in both dry fire and live fire training, is cost effective and provides the shooter with an analysis of his or her performance with appropriate recommendations for correcting deficiencies. Enter Mantis X Shooting Performance System from Mantis Tech.
All experienced shooters know that good shooting is a product of technique and consistency: grip, trigger finger placement, extension, body positioning relative to the target and trigger pull all affect shooting. These mechanical movements influence, in varying degrees, muzzle movement. So, to what extent does the previously mentioned mechanics Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
Mantis X is an extremely sophisticated system. At the heart of this technology is a sensor that attaches to your firearm’s accessory rail. This device is powered by an internal rechargeable battery and collects positional data for your firearm.
2018
firearm is doing before, during and after each trigger pull.
Your firearm moves as you present the weapon, pull the trigger, and recover from recoil. This motion occurs in space and space as we know from our high school math is defined by three coordinates on the Cartesian system and that is X, Y and Z.
Once a connection has been established, you configure the application for your particular shooting scenario. The sensor passes the data it collects via Bluetooth to the Mantis X app running on your smart device. The data is processed by some very sophisticated algorithms designed to analyze what your firearm is doing about 200 milliseconds before your trigger break, during your trigger break and immediately after. From that analysis, Mantis X software, which is available for both IOS and Android platforms, scores and analyzes your shot and makes recommendations for improving your shooting. The Mantis X Shooting Performance System is ruthlessly accurate in its analysis of firearm movement. It does not replace an instructor but it’s clearly a force multiplier for that instructor. An instructor can observe your shooting mechanics and correct obvious conditions, Mantis X will collect and analyze what your
The configuration screen allows you to select between a handgun or long gun; you can also select the firearm to be used so you can associate shooting results with selected firearms; you can identify whether you are right handed or left handed; you select live fire, dry fire or CO2 ; sensor orientation and rail position. It also provides the user with an instruction guide and the opportunity to report issues. The app is tight and runs extremely well. The only issue I had was with the Bluetooth connection dropping a couple of times during training, certainly no big deal.
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
Mantis has done an outstanding job of developing a comprehensive list of training scenarios. On this page, the trainee has the option of selecting from a variety of exercises, including timed shooting, reloads, primary hand only and support hand only. For my maiden voyage, I chose the Mantis X Benchmark.
Once your Mantis X sensor and app are connected, you’re ready to start training, using a number of possible scenarios.
Mantis X includes an informational page describing the training objectives for the selected exercise. In my case, the goal was to measure precision and performance over time. I was required to take 10 shots focusing on precision for every shot. After viewing the stated objectives, the next screen is a score sheet. This is where each shot fired is scored and weapon movements assessed for hold and trigger pull movement for each shot. The trainee can also select from live fire, dry fire and CO2 modes, right or left hand and sensor orientation using the score sheet page.
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
Once all options have been selected, the shooter taps the start icon to begin the training session.
Mantis calls Mantis X’s next screen a spider chart. It’s somewhat technical in nature in that it’s designed to capture multivariate (more than one variable) data in a two-dimensional chart. As the shooter progresses through the ten rounds required, Mantis X captures all of the relevant data and scores each shot providing the student with immediate feedback. From a pedagogical perspective, the Mantis X system meets all of the requirements for a highly effective interaction with the trainee. The student applies what he or she has learned and receives immediate scoring and feedback. Once the shooter has completed a training session, Mantis X adds the session to its historical database. Historical sessions can then be reviewed by the trainee or in conjunction with an instructor, a great system for making all relevant details available for review and evaluation.
Interpreting the chart requires some assistance from the developers, and Mantis provides a Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
very user friendly way of accessing the needed explanation. In the upper left hand corner you’ll see a question mark which when tapped will open a popup to display an explanation. Mantis X is a sophisticated tool and its developers could have allowed themselves to get stuck in the all too frequent quagmire of what I call techno-babble, but here too they’ve done an excellent job making explanations clear and concise.
The final analytics is presented in what MANTIS calls the Trace. This is a polar graph like plot that presents the full trace of firearm movement during the shot. Hold movement is represented in blue, trigger press movement in yellow and movement after the trigger break in red.
The next screen plots your score for each shot fired. The flatter the line, the more consistent your shooting is. On the lower half of the chart Mantis X plots the hold movement in blue, which is a measure of weapon movement before the trigger press against trigger press movement. Here too, help in interpreting the graph is available by simply tapping the “?” icon.
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
Mantis X has a number of other screens that are designed to setup training groups and share training results, all very nice features for those of you gregarious folks. It wasn’t that big of a deal for me. However, what was a big deal for me was the app generated corrective suggestions.
recommended corrective action as shown above.
Mantis X doesn’t just analyze it provides the trainee with constructive feedback
In the next scenario, I slowed my reload down but focused on muzzle control resulting in a higher score of 91.0.
I also ran through two out of battery reloads. In one scenario I focused on time but my hold movement and trigger pull movement were large hence the lower score of 45.4.
The challenge to the trainee is minimizing hold and trigger pull movement while decreasing reload time. As you become familiar with Mantis X, you’ll appreciate what an extraordinary and revolutionary training system it is. Mantis X not only provides trainees with the metrics but it also suggests solutions to improve detected deficiencies. Using a series of sophisticated and complex algorithms, Mantis X examines data collected by the smart sensor and recommends corrective action. During the course of my review, I heeled the pistol, used too much trigger finger on the trigger pull and limp wristed the pistol – all common mistakes with novice shooters. In all cases, Mantis X detected the flaw and Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
MANTIS Tech – MANTIS X Shooting Performance System
2018
A Message From Mantis Tech: We're gun nuts, with some heavy geek seasoning and a deep passion for our families and our future.
My objective in this review is not to replace the user manual, but the Mantis X Shooter Performance System deserves a comprehensive expose’.
Like you, we want to shoot better. Like you, we recognize that shooting is a perishable skill. We want more options for effective, efficient training. Like you, we believe that when performance is measured, performance improves. Like you, we want to take the guesswork out, and replace it with cold, hard data. So we made Mantis - for us. And it turns out that a whole bunch of other people felt the same way. This is only the beginning for Mantis. We work tirelessly to improve algorithms, give actionable data, and help shooters at every skill level - to shoot better.
In closing, Mantis X is not a game, although it’s interesting and fun to use. It’s a highly evolved and technically sophisticated tool designed to improve shooter performance. This is a training system that can be used by police academies, agency academies, firearm instructors, individuals, or anyone needing to develop consistent and finely honed shooting skills. At an M.S.R.P. of $149, the app is free; you’ll get a powerful professional training tool that is easy to use and highly effective. In the short time I’ve had with Mantis X, I’ve developed an affinity for just how elegant and effective Mantis X really is. -SP
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved