Video: DIY Coilgun Turns Voltage into Kilojoule Projectile Power

Inspired by the movie "Eraser" no doubt!

Would be interesting to know what kind of range it has. Clearly a smooth bolt that size would not be very accurate for very far (100 ft?).

Still...pretty awesome DIY project!!!

http://www.rainydaymagazine.com
"We Entertain When It Rains"

Kind of reminds me of a weapon from the movie District 9. Pretty sweet at that!

I love this! seems like the projectile is way to large, but I have no background in this to even justify why I think this. I think a .223 round with out the casing would be much better

recharge time or rate of fire would be interesting, and a switch to a sabot round may prove to be advantageous

The gun in Eraser, if I recall, was actually an Electromagnetic Pulse gun. Completely different from the gauss rifle/rail gun we see here.

regardless of such quibbling details...

WANT

Is that 1.25 kJ coil energy or muzzle energy?

"Do not touch the operational end of the device.

Do not look into the operational end of the device."

Great! I like this.

This is off topic, but what would be if we have laser instead coil? HeNe or LED for sample...

1.25kJ coil energy. The projectile is so large because of something called magnetic saturation. This is where an objects magnetic field can no longer be increased. So, in order to use that much power you need a much larger projectile, the larger projectile limits the velocities that can be attained by the amount of power available. Gauss rifles are terribly inefficient.

Eraser? District 9? Naw, that is clearly the Mag gun from Demolition Man.

@ Joro 05, we aren't going to use lasers because at the moment, we can't fit the massive power that would work it, we could use a small fusion reactor, but that would be way to dangerous, and a little out of our tech range.

This is similar to, but not the same as a gauss gun. Coil guns have one, continuous wire that wraps around the barrel, a gauss gun has many solid or smaller coils that turn on and off with precise timing, so that the bullet is never slowed down by the electro mag behind it. A coil gun can have more than one coil, but it is uncommon, and is a gauss gun anyways. It's sorta' like this: a square is always a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't always a square.

What I think would be nice is if we use the ultra-capacitor that Pop-Sci covered a little while back, which could hold, as I remember, something on the edge of 100 times the power a super-capacitor could. This would allow us to make the capacitors the shape and size of a bullet casing, and the world would become that much more sci-fi.

could that much power just be launched out in a lightning like attack? like a pointed telsa coil

@Rogers Head, a sabot would prove to be interesting. I need to get myself one of these

OOOOOOOO PLEEEAAAASSSSE SANTA CAN I HAVE ONE!!!!!!!!

Seems to me his slug is a bit large. I bet he'd get more velocity out of it if he chopped the slug in half.

Nevertheless, that is AWESOME!

*GASP* Woah 1.25kj I once made a 1.25j (just joule)
coilgun (it was a pea shooter in the end lol). Anyway I
got zapped by the capacitor bank pme day and MAN did it
hurt, it was like getting tazzed (err ah but I would not
know anything about that 0.o). But the point is 1.25kj
must blow your arm off lol.

@richcsst
Agreed it is a huge slug something smaller would
probably be better.

*Edit pme should be one. Don't know how that happened lol.

isnt amperage better than voltage at magnetic power? thats what i remember someone telling me awbout magnetic flux

Fun, but any slug that goes through a plastic plane and stops in a cardboard box isn't going to be the killing machine of tomorrow.

Aperture Science... Best part of the video.

It is ingenious, but I suspect a 45ACP would be more practical and effective.

Wow! After reading these comments I can conclude that none of you have any idea how this works. No a smaller slug will not be any better because of magnetic saturation. In order to use that energy you need a larger piece of steel, which in turn reduces the velocity because of the extra mass. Now Rail guns...thats something worth investing into.

Well, the thing is a LOT quieter than a traditional firearm. Imagine if they can somehow modify the weapon to shoot bullets at subsonic speeds...maybe encasing a real bullet inside a sabot or some other means of delivering a lead bullet using a magnetic sled of some sort.

Maybe not a lead bullet, but something with fins since there's no rotation to the bullet/projectile to give it stability.

It would be an assassin's perfect weapon...

And for those who think that silencers on regular guns really cut out 95% of the noise from a gun, you're being fooled by Hollywood. It's still loud. Won't be shooting a guy in one room and people in the other room won't notice.

Excellent, I needed a gauss rifle for- some stuff. I will actually try to build one though, if I've got the spare time.

I love this!!! And the '666' the screen displays when it first illuminates... a clue to how it feels to have that pointed at oneself.

Finally - a way to shut off that #$%$#@ smoke detector.

I would like to see a blue laser (gun), with the same capacitance. -- Alas ... I could not fire this rig, as designed, because my teeth have metal fillings. I did not see much (if any) Faraday type shielding.

As for me? ... I really would like one of those .50 calibre pre-charged pneumatic rifles.

Voltage is... -666 HOLY ZOMBIE JEEZUS!!!

god damn. this is the stupidest thing ever. this is where naturalism comes in. my god this is the worst idea ever.

Wow this is amazing!

Some of the things people come up with. Ive always been keen on homemade HV projects.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!!!

Its a pea shooter, not impressed. I expected more from that amount of power. How large is the coil? Maybe if the coil was longer it would accelerate the projectile more?

Amazing that thing looks really scary!

I think that it would work even better if the coil was longer and thicker!

I find it hilarious that it can destroy a microwave yet he uses a cardboard box to stop the projectiles. Also, its pretty neat that when he turns it on the voltmeter flashes 666 initially. Evil fun inside.

:O, I wouldn't want anybody to shoot me with that... That's a cool DIY project, very creative!

Wow. I envy anyone who can make something like that and not have the FBI or National Guard show up just to "Control" them. I would be afraid of spending all of my money on a lawyer, then going to prison just for being innovative. I should have been a "Geek".

This is a bit off topic but I was curious if the Maglev train technology could be used to propel a projectile out of a hand held gun? This may be a horrible idea and not the least bit logical but this article spurred some curiosities. Thanks!

Can someone give me instructions to build one of these?

Tbanschb
not to be rude but these can be quite practical for military roles.
the output of a magnetic linear accelerator is very easy to manipulate, and in turn it can be comressed into a smaller more practical peice of equipment.
for instance my friend and I have been able to launch a .50 caliber steel LMG slug at a greater velocity using a magnetic linear accelerator and as a result of the velocity gained the slug had more momentum and in turn more power. and the system used had similar dimentions to the famouse P-90 system
and just to enhance the advantages there is a very low sound signature so it is optimal for a recon/steath operation with no silencer needed.

I also would like to comment on the previous postes on laser rifles
although we do not have the beloved star wars blaster rifle modern science is working towards a matter with a similar effect, metalic plasma is supermagnetic and can deeal the same amount of damage as a "laser rifle" if the user creates a magnetic field to thrust the plasma forward it could easily be used as a weapon to act as a "laser rifle" and burn/melt the target

I was thinking of building a bit larger field coil gun with supercapacitors that when triggered by a short range infrared sensor that detects shrapnel, uses the coil as an energy shield. Is that possible with current non- fusion reactor technology. It would take a lot to charge but would it be enough with a hydrogen fuel cell backpack?

@magnetman519 Thats how they explain the Covenants plasma weapons in the Halo books. It's pretty clever.

@Wiikid6

Theoreticaly yes but those systems are said to ba launched and guided by a magnetic field, and as far as I know there are not any systems in modern science that can do that ( other than missile guidance systems Which are not at all small, nimble, or chambered via a magazine.)
And to add to this cunundrum of comments My buddy and I have some systems in progress that may resolve or at least lower the effect of magnetic saturation
I'll try to update if it pans out

This looks like something you would use to kill a Terminator.
NERDS OF THE WORLD. UNITE!

Wait we can try this at home right. They did not say we could not