'Tis the season for a Gauss Cannon

[dracodraconis]

Source: Engadget

Just what everyone needs, a Gauss pistol. The GP-219 uses a micro-controller to precisely control the pulse shape, allowing you to fire steel projectiles from a pistol. Granted, the pack of batteries and capacitors probably makes the thing weigh a ton, but the pistol is effective and silent. The future is being made today.

Comments

[dracodraconis.livejournal.com]

I suspect it will show up in our role-playing game, now that we know such a beast exists. I also suspect that someone, somewhere, will have posted plans, and probably the PIC coding for the pulse synchronization (which is the challenging part IMO).

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

*grins*

As long as the material being fired is massive enough, a CDS or light interrupt circuit works. Pretty simple to build, and the switching for how long each coil stays active is pretty straightforward too. Typically, however, something like this has a meter or more in barrel length - and that only maybe punches through a #10 can on a good day.

I believe there are videos of the longer pipe models kicking about on youtube.

[dracodraconis.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've built delay timers in university. Can be done completely in analog with materials available at Radio Shack. The one I built controlled the stepping motion of a robot for a Robotics class. Same idea; carry a pulse along, each one triggering the next.