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posted by
cmn32480
on Saturday November 14 2015, @07:45PM
from the i-so-want-to-try-this-at-home dept.
from the i-so-want-to-try-this-at-home dept.
This is the most powerful mobile electromagnetic railgun built by a non-government. A railgun is a device that accelerates a conductive projectile using extremely high current and electromagnetism. No explosive powder required. Just batteries. This page shows many of the steps required to make one.
The gun is portable, but the power supply is not. Still, cool project.
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DIY 250 lb Giant Mobile Railgun, 27,000 joules.
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You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 15 2015, @06:23PM
Pretty sure I saw a 100kJ variant on youtube (or somewhere) before. But it also had the same disappointing efficiency.
Criticisms and things I'd really really suggest fixing:
That bank needs to be fastened together as a solid unit before it tears itself apart. You can see how much the busbars flex in one of the slowmo shots.
Transition between injector and rails looks pretty ugly. Is that cut and bent, or brazed somehow? Copper can handle a tight 0 degree bend, so there's really no reason to make a cut that chokes current so badly. Void also needs to be filled in as they've probably already discovered when it jammed.
A paintball gun is convenient but makes a terrible first stage accelerator. There's really no reason to have a slower injector vs. 'as fast as possible'. Quick exhaust valves that can handle unregulated CO2 are not *that* expensive on ebay.
Having only about 4-6 inches gel penetration to estimate ME/velocity by, this may only be 100-200J, or well below 1% efficiency. Without some some future improvements you might be better off shooting those slugs from an entry level potato gun.
Also, that is the second most dangerous thing I've ever seen done with 9 volt batteries.
I don't have an imgur account. this can be copypasta'd there if anyone's bored.