Archive for Railgun
More Railgun News
To follow-up on my earlier post, here’s a couple of videos of the experimental rail cannon being test fired. Enjoy. 
Railgun News
Not about mine this time, but a new version planned by the US Navy. It’s generally been “known” that certain navies have been thinking about ship mounted rail cannons for a good few years now, but it nice to finally see some action on this front. Not a lot of point in me repeating this story, when you can read about it here.
Further Railgun Developments (03.12.07)
I did an interesting experiment to temporarily give more power to the railgun at the end of last week. Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page if you’d like to read about it.
Further Railgun Developments (19.09.07)
Wow, I’ve actually done some work on the railgun! 
Click here and scroll down to the bottom if you’re interested.
It Came To Me In A Dream…
I realise I haven’t had much to say on the blog recently, but that’s not because nothing’s happening. Far from it in fact, as I’m extremely busy. I’m currently working on several personal projects – in various fields simultaneously, all of which should be complete within the next few weeks. When they are, rest assured I’ll share the results here.
Oddly, I had a vivid dream last night, in which I met a Chinese man who had a similar home-made Railgun to mine, only with improved range and reliability. I asked him how he managed to achieve this, and he showed me the modifications he’d made to his rail designs (the only flaw in my own offering). His suggestions seemed feasible – a message from my overworked subconscious perhaps – so I’ll investigate their effectiveness as soon as I get a free moment. Maybe even tomorrow…
Finally, I’ve seen both ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘The Prestige’ since my last blog entry. I can recommend both highly, although the latter went on for about 15 minutes longer than it probably should have, and made some odd claims regarding the properties of Tesla coils…
Further Railgun Developments (22.06.2006)
I had a very productive day working on the Railgun yesterday, and hope to repeat this today. Read the full progress report here.
While I’m on the subject of projects, Wilkie has a new blog, where he is currently writing about his foray into the exciting world of robotics! Follow this link to find out more. I’ve also updated my Links page to point to his new blog.
Further Railgun Developments (07.02.2006)
Click here to visit my Railgun page for the latest news.
Further Railgun Development
I managed to get the 1.5 Farad capacitor from eBay – as mentioned in my last entry – and spent my lunchtimes last week carrying out some tests and browsing the RS electrical components catalogues for cable, switches, etc, that are able to handle high currents.
While it was possible to work on the first prototype under the guise of doing my normal job, unfortunately this new cap is rather large (30cm tall), and has a built in voltmeter and flashing blue LEDs (God knows why, probably because it’s designed to appeal to the “boy racer” market as an addition to their car audio systems), making it somewhat more conspicuous. Hence I have to work on it at lunchtimes when there is nobody around.
Anyway, I’m very pleased with the inital tests. I connected it to the original prototype using some suitable large copper wires, effectively by-passing the capacitor bank, and was able to get the same effects as normal with only a few seconds of charging, rather than the normal 4+ minutes. Now I’m able to get several firings in a short period of time, two facts have come to light:
1. The rail damage from each shot with the new caps is both increased and significant. There’s no doubt that the portable ‘rifle-style’ prototype will need to have easily replaceable rails.
2. While I was able to get a reasonable range with the small projectile, it becomes too prone to misfirings – such as being blown off the rails by the sparks, rather than propelled forward. To eleviate this I created a larger projectile that fits snugly inside the rails, making it less likely to deviate. Of course, this has reduced the range somewhat, but made firing much more reliable.
Now I have suitable magnets and capacitors, the railgun is starting to become and engineering project. My next step will to be build another prototype that will mainly consist of the rails and little else. This will allow me to experiment with new types of projectiles without causing further damage to the original prototype, among other things. Pictures of the new cap and new prototype will follow in due course.
Hyperdrive and Other Projects
The “rediscovery” of a forgotten scientific theory from the 1950s has lead to the proposal for a “Hyperdrive”; a means of powering space craft that will allow us to make a trip from Earth to Mars in a mere three hours, rather than over a period of several months that is possible with current technology. Rather than reading my regurgitation of the New Scientist article, read it for yourself here.
This news comes at a time that I’m embarking on a slightly related project. No, it’s not a Hyperdrive of my own, or any form of ‘faster-than-light’ space travel – thought I should clear that up before people start thinking I’ve lost the plot entirely! 
I’m not giving out any details until I’ve got a fully working prototype, as opposed to the semi-working one I currently have. Watch this space.
As for the Railgun project, preparations are underway for the second prototype. I’m hoping to get a 1.5 Farad (!!!) capacitor from eBay some time next week. This high-spec capacitor is intended for car audio systems, and will charge/discharge (effectively) instantainiously, which is just what I require. More news on this next week.
