Do-it-yourself projects and technology updates

DIY Gaussian pistol

Filed under: Uncategorized — Greg Lipscomb on January 31, 2007 @ 7:13 am



Here is a DIY pistol rail gun that one of my readers has been working on. It is actually a two stage rail gun with 5 different rather large capacitors that store a significant amount of voltage. This pistol has 8 rechargeable batteries that are used to charge the caps. It then has a pre-stage that loads the ferrite ball. There are 2 coils which then fire in sequence. The timing of this firing is crucial so that the maximum amount of force is applied to the ball. All of this is controlled with a PIC16LF819. There are laser sensors that sense where the ball is, and this information is fed into the microcontroller. This microcontroller then calculates when to fire the second stage.

A Real Electromagnetic Pistol!

* Two coils are precisely pulsed in sequence
(350 Amp peak) to fire a steel projectile
* Two infrared sensors detect the projectile
position within the firing tube
* Controlled by a PIC microcontroller
* Powered by 8 AA NiCd battery pack
* Built-in battery charger
* Bar display tracks capacitor bank charge
progress
* Battery and Fault LED indicators
* Laser targeting sight
* Makes no sound when fired

Check out this cool project here.

9 Responses to “DIY Gaussian pistol”

  1. mac romer Says:
  2. you are all stupid fools, I pity you all, and your mothers, and your faces, and faeces.

  3. Mini Moose Says:
  4. Wow! That’s amazing! It’s this thing lethal? (it looks lethal)

  5. what do you care Says:
  6. what in holy god’s name does that hack job… do…? ideas? anyone? anyone?

  7. James Says:
  8. It fires a projectile. It’s not a railgun, it’s a coilgun. It uses electromagnets to accelerate the bullet instead of pushing it with expanding gases.

  9. Mr.Goodtrips Says:
  10. Yeah man, that isn’t a rail gun. it’s a coil gun. it even says it uses coils. a rail gun uses rails hence “rail” gun. still it’s amazing if it actually fires with any significant force.

  11. phoenix Says:
  12. dude, give the poor guy a break! i think that thing’s awesome, and if the guy wants to make a coil gun, let him make it! sheesh!

    BTW, that thing really is awesome, good luck!

  13. billy bong Says:
  14. ok what the fuck dose this thing do will it kill someone or will it power my house??

  15. Mysticblue Says:
  16. Very nice work… it’s thinking like this that will take us further into the future. Those that
    choose to criticize, are of small, undeveloped and insignificant minds and often fear what they
    do not understand. I would encourage you to continue with ever thoughts and ideals that your mind
    should produce or decides to undertake next. The universe is not the limit, only our imaginations
    are. Best of luck to you.

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