I've Made a Powerful COILGUN | Separate Stages PCB

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

Arduino Course LEVEL 2 (Spanish): bit.ly/2ZNWgqy Follow me on FACEBOOK for more: facebook.com/Electronoobs Help me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ELECTRONOOBS

[@JamaicaEntertainment985]

is it possible to use higher voltage caps for it to be more powerfull

[@JohnJaggerJack]

Next project idea, a capacitive spot welder for 18650 batteries, the simpler the design the better. :)

[@nitish672]

Hello, I am from India 🇮🇳 ,and I will suggest you to make some video from the basic components like the bjt you made earlier and It will be great if you dub them to Hindi language as there are millions of students here who desire to hear a person having knowledge like you . 🤞

[@harshitrajsud9hridn]

Please make part 2 And add morw power and auto reload features

[@Geniusinventor]

Can we make a big tank connon out of this ? I love the idea of 8.8cm flak electric gun on a tiger 1 tank 🥰

[@a.rostamifard]

Nice video, as I worked with coilguns a lot for my university project, I might give you some advice which will definitely help you. 1.try using some kind of ferrite washer caps at the both wnds of each coil, to help focusing the magnetic field. 2.the main issue and also misunderstanding about your design is that theoretically adding more stages to the design won't increase the speed. Here is why: as the bullet passes through the stages it gains more speed, thus the required run time of each coil will be different.the early stages need more run time thus bigger inductance and capacitor values, and the few last stages will have a lot less run time due to the high speed of the bullet, so you should use smaller values of inductors and capacitors values. If you apply the same values to each stage, adventually the last stages will reduce the speed and efficiency of the coilgun drastically, because of the suck back effect that they cause due to exceeding the required run time of the coil. 3.try to minimize the airgap between the bullet and the barrel, aslo use non-conductive barrel to get rid of induced current losses. 4. The pcb traces add a noticable amount of resistance to the current path, so using a thicker and wider trackes covered with solder is a better choice. 5.calculate the values for the capacitor and inductor of each stage based on the bullet speed of the previous stage. 6.try using a stepped coil geometry for the coil of the first stage. These were all I can say so far about it. Again, thanks for your efforts and keep it going!

[@TalSaiag]

Would he benefit from reversing the current once the bullet passes instead of cutting it? Would it also be beneficial to run all coils together and one by one switch them once the bullet passes? (Turning them off like in the video or reversing the current like my first question suggested?)

[@a.rostamifard]

@@TalSaiag no, its not a bipolar sibject. Reversing the current inside the coil will not change the direction of the applied force. The bullet is always attracted towards the coil, no matter which way the current flows through the coil.

[@Geniusinventor]

Can we make a big tank connon out of this ? I love the idea of 8.8cm flak electric gun on a tiger 1 tank 🥰

[@CraftAero]

@@a.rostamifard Unless you load a magnetic projectile.

[@nickstanley5064]

@@howardstark6707 , look WIK C, it's great that you built your own coilgun and have videos about them, but that doesn't mean you should spam your videos links on the comments of every coilgun/railgun related video. You just come across as attention seeking (the fact that you're using a different account to link your videos doesn't help either).

[@ElectroBOOM]

Wow I jut saw this! So much power!

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

well, it's got high voltages ! that should spark ur interest ;p

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

You see something dangerous and a lot of power, your eyes are shining???😂😂😂 Next version will have even more power, maybe I'll use some Full Bridge Rectifiers 😁

[@309electronics5]

Well instead of a lamp lighting up in mehdi's head a capacitor explodes :)

[@Nunya58294]

Lmfao I knew I'd see your comment 😂😂😂

[@mukuldev5162]

Please don't shoot your foot with this

[@SeanHodgins]

Great design! Make it into a loop and you have a mini particle accelerator.

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

That's a very interesting idea. The bad part is the induced back EMF of each coil into the bullet. That creates a maximum top speed. Maybe using electrons... :)

[@SeanHodgins]

@@ELECTRONOOBS Just add a couple million volts!

[@SuperSupplyGuy]

Wow that would be awesome If you could accelerate a small steel ball or something in that Loop. Even If its not so super fast.

[@sayyidsahal4533]

Then it is a bldc motot

[@Geniusinventor]

Can we make a big tank connon out of this ? I love the idea of 8.8cm flak electric gun on a tiger 1 tank 🥰

[@fritz6430]

What a nice project! When I was in the U.S. Navy in 1954, I was assigned to a Degaussing range on an island in Rhode Island. I learned a lot about magnetics, and sketched up a coil gun using magnetic bullets, not iron ones. I never built it but this project here brought back some great memories!

[@hadiyyatm967]

Terjemahkan bahasa indonesia

[@ErevanDB]

Did you save any schematics?

[@dtester]

That's awesome. Did you see the videos of the Navy railgun testing that came out a in the recent years?

[@stevepr100]

The past future/future past is a complex issue jus like star wars 😮😮

[@JeBubbieSpubbies]

If you're still alive - and let's be generous and say you were 18 in 1954 - that would place you at least at 86 years old when you wrote that comment. Do you have even a shred of proof that you're not just some larper

[@bertram-raven]

Perhaps using timing rather than photo sensors would mean more tunability. This would be more complicated because each projectile must be the same, but it could go supersonic this way :)

[@CorwinTheOneAndOnly]

Having a weapon with both options in one I think would be the best design for usability. If for whatever reason your programmed timing doesn't gel with the current atmospheric conditions or whatever other variables, you can swap to the sensors as a less powerful but more consistent option for harsh environments.

[@davey2k12]

Be limited by how fast the triac switch turns on what cud be faster tho ....I need make one just with 3 stages 😮

[@OddlyIncredible]

BTW, running big high-discharge-current caps at a higher voltage than they're rated for (e.g., 500+VDC on a 450V cap) is a pretty good way to have one explode. Might want to dial back your coil voltage a bit.

[@spenza99]

my thoughts exactly one of them is gonna let out the magic smoke then absolutely decimate his entire garage

[@OddlyIncredible]

@@spenza99 The other option is two caps in series (with balance resistors) so there's a safety margin on the voltage, but there's a seep efficiency tradeoff for cap arrays in this sort of application.

[@cordawg89]

I find your lack of voltage de-rating disturbing… In all seriousness that made me nervous when I saw it. While it doesn’t need to meet NASA derating standards there’s got to be some margin. Safety is important with HV.

[@Pulverrostmannen]

Very neat project! A tip on the soldering though as some of them look very poor. I recommend soldering with a medium thick chisel tip and with some more heat for much easier work and much better flow around the joints. it might sound odd that using a bigger tip would be better and might look harder with small parts but you can turn the tip so you get the sharper edge towards the surface which makes you easily apply solder on the flat surface of it and nicely flow on to the component. if you solder with leaded solder around 380 degree C or if lead free up to 400-420 if you have bigger heat absorbing areas (might sound hot for some but this is where I work all the time). a needle tip is weak in every aspect both in how much heat it can transfer and the amount of solder it can hold and it is more suited for smaller SMD work. But I am using chisel tip for pretty much everything. just mention this as creative feedback, keep up the good work!

[@james10739]

I saw some that looked like some solder that I have that I guess doesn't have much flux or it's just no good Even with good flux it is not great but good enough I guess ya it feels like it's not hot enough but I'm over 400°

[@Pulverrostmannen]

@@james10739 it depends a bit on the solder itself and the tip you use, if you have a small needle tip it transfer heat so poorly you might even go up as high as 430 degree C to even be able to melt around a groundplane pcb with normal tin. most types of solder without a flux core is usually not meant for soft soldering and is more likely for plumbing work with use of separate flux. But cheap tin is bad yes, I have even seen cheap types have so bad flux that alone short out the device because that flux was conductive. Best solder is the lead based one with rosin core which gives you really shiny bonds and easy and even flow, this is what people use if you watch KZbin and see shiny soldering joints. the downsides of this is of course the lead which is not good to handle too much and the availability of it. if you use lead-free solder you never get a shiny bond and you need more heat to flow it but you always get a pale and rough surface using this no matter how good you are doing it. if you want one of the best and cheapest types of flux you can do it yourself with just a simple can with rosin and some isopropyl alcohol but you are best of cleaning the work afterwards since it won´t be "no clean flux"

[@ericbitson8927]

Small chisel tip 👌 Leaded solder at 405° 👌

[@Pulverrostmannen]

@@ericbitson8927 Good stuff, Very good!

[@greenpeasuit]

Very nice video. Would love to see how many stages optimizes/maximizes speed. Might also be useful as a warning of its danger if you tested it on ballistic gel at some point.

[@ChristophLaimer]

I very much like the modularity :-) ... BUT your actual circuit works a bit different, than explained in the video: the IR-barrier is positioned in front of the coil. As soon as the projectile interrupts the IR-barrier, the thyristor is switched on and the capacitor is discharged via the coil with a very high current. At that time the projectile is attracted by the magnetic field, and pulled into the coil. When the projectile exits the coil, there is no active switching off, because a thyristor can't be actively switched off. However the discharge time won't take long - the capacitor is most likely empty, before the projectile exits the coil. But there is another issue with the circuit: the discharge current reaches its peak, when the voltage of the capacitor zero. Then the current starts decreasing and charges the capacitor in reverse (the bypass-diode D2 is useless). As soon as the current is zero, the thyristor is inactive again, and the capacitor is negatively charged. Reverse-charging an electrolytic capacitor is not a good idea: I strongly recommend to test the discharge-behavior with the oscilloscope (at a much lower voltage), fix the circuit, use a high voltage mosfet (instead of the thyristor).

[@steveny1231]

I agree, I was confused during the explanation of the circuit too concerning the thyristor use

[@ponttokamera]

How about a diode in parallel with the capacitor to prevent it from being charged in reverse?

[@1kreature]

Great explenation and why I disliked the design as well. As you add more stages, you get to a point where the projectile is being braked by the field in the coils due to the time it takes to discharge. I think using transistors in this design would be better. It would also allow you to see the residual voltage on each stage to get a better idea of how much of the energy was used.

[@MattyEngland]

I accidentally connected an electrolytic capacitor in reverse once (it was across a negative voltage rail) and the resulting explosion was quite scary. I dread to think what would happen if one that size exploded.

[@Lesservector]

Chris Laimer, hey this is off topic, I still have yet to build those 600 motors. Bought the plans and printed all the parts plus ordered the hardware, magnets, and wire. But winding up the 15 meter of copper is very difficult process. I gave up cause I kept messing up on those.

[@unopine]

Amazing! Looks like a really fun build. I like the simplicity of being able to scale it up.

[@Tom-yc8jv]

You should have placed the photo sensors at the front of the coil, instead of the back. Then set them to turn on the coils when the beam is blocked. The reason is that you would not need to have the coil on all the time and there will also be no pull back after the projectile has already reached past the half-way mark in the coil and starts to get a pull back effect. The coil would turn on when the projectile gets to the front of the opening and the coil will shut off when it reaches the mid-way point before any pull back happens.

[@winfordnettles3292]

I like your thought process here. Reverse the magnetic field of each coil as the projectile passes the midpoint of the coil as well.

[@user-rs8zg8ey2b]

IMO this makes no sense. The ball will want to center in the coil (max force) and you can see his coils are longer than the ball, so if anything you would be slamming on the brakes.

[@paulromsky9527]

After studying his schematics, it appears that when the projectile breaks the IR beam it triggers the Thyristor of the next coil in the chain (note: the next coil circuit is drawn to the left of the IR trigger components - schematics should have a left to right flow when possible), but it DOES NOT cut off the coil that fed that IR pair. Once a coil's Thyristor is triggered, each coil is rapidly energized and then rapidly de-energized until the capacitor is nearly fully drained (note: the diode above the capacitor is an isolation diode so each capacitor discharge is independent from each other - that is good), but each coil in succession is not turned off as he says in this video, they are just drained to zero at their own rate after triggered and thus that reduces the acceleration efficiency of the system. The idea is to have the field at zero as it transitions roughy midway between one stage to the next. Timing here is very critical, if the coil de-energizes even a microsecond too early or too late, the net acceleration between stages is lower than optimum - optimum is what you need. Also I said 'roughly' between stages because that midway point might actually be somewhere within the feeding coil before passing to the accepting coil in the next stage. So exactly when and how fast one coil's magnetic field reacts (Gauss curve), it must properly overlap with the next stage's coil Gauss curve and timing. Each stage will have different timing and curves. Also, as you can see in the video, IR phototransistors have very slow response times, too slow for the pinpoint timing required for efficient acceleration. I think Hall Effect transducers would be better, but the coil fields would interfere with them and the projectile would have to be magnetized. This system is a simple rail gun, Rail Guns use pre-calculated ballistic expectations of the projectile and the system for the best results - no real-time monitoring of the projectile is used. A high speed FPGA with nanosecond timing using DLLs could get the right timing for each coil stage once a solution for the interstage ballistics is found.

[@HorstHubert-r6v]

"optimum is what you need" I think I have to print this on a shirt. 😂

[@paulromsky9527]

@@HorstHubert-r6v "Optimum is what I need, but I will settle for perfection" [laugh].

[@Fred_Klingon]

Is it possible to record the current generated by the bullet while passing through the coil? Maybe with a secondary coil just outside the first one, I guess it shouldn't be that big to detect the bullet. I would record the timing between each stage, and try to calculate some kind of coefficient, to know how much a stage should be on, depending on the capacitor and coil size. Plus, if you need to discharge the capacitor at a certain point, may a longer (but thinner coil) fully discharge the cap? I mean, keeping the same wire and number of turns, but using a longer tube.

[@laurencerilling5873]

He did say it needs a flux dump circuit

[@paulromsky9527]

@@Fred_Klingon You are on to somthing, but it's been awhile since I first posted. I just too many other projects and thought to work out now. But you are using your brain and comming up with ideas... total respect.

[@riccardoiacob4560]

I have some improvements in mind: 1) Use a Teflon tube, as you suggested it creates less friction 2) Use hall effect sensors instaead of phototransistors, they are more reliable and require less space on the pcb 3) Make the boards' interconnects hot-swappable and not soldered

[@nicolascisneros4742]

Maybe he's not using Hall effect sensors because they are so close to the coils, they can generate interferences.

[@usertogo]

Its a good idea, it would represent some analog curve and it would have more information than the 'digital' optical switch... Eventually he use Ai to pursue the optimal curve - how about imprinting the slugs first with their own magnetic field?

[@BJCaasenbrood]

@@nicolascisneros4742 this

[@adamjackson9988]

It’s only less friction if you can keep it straight

[@devrim-oguz]

Hall effect is not a good idea, optical sensors are better for high speed

[@Robert-sx2we]

Within 17 seconds of watching this video I had to subscribe, this is litterly the type of content I enjoy. I really don't know how I haven't came across your videos earlier.

[@Noxmyn]

The bullet detector had to be done before the coil. The resulting values would be: 1 - bullet to the coil, 0 bullet began to fly into the coil, 1 bullet flew into the coil. And after 1 -> 0 -> 1 turn on the next coil.

[@imyourocd]

IDK A cheap Arduino board could be used to adjust the timing, and a few open-source programs could make it adjustable at the pc . so yes before the coil but with the board

[@lordchristopherdeburgh5169]

This video takes me back to when I built something similar to your design and it worked perfectly. I only used 6 stages but it was so fast when firing a small projectile through similar materials used in this video. Well done.😊

[@Fabian-ld4oi]

Great video, great version of a coilgun! right now, I'm in the proces of building a Coilgun myself for a schoolproject and if there is one thing I can tell you, it is to make it a blind system, that is just controlled by an arduino or ESP. As you probably know, the magnetic field doesn't immediatly break down, when you cut the power. I used Phototransistors to get the speed and adjusted the coil timing this way.

[@LaserGadgets]

IR gates might fail sooner or later. Impressive result though! And I would make the coils smaller towards the other end of the barrel, so the pulse becomes shorter and more powerful.

[@survivalinthezombieapocaly2142]

Of course. Maybe, maybe. See also forgotten weapon Coilgun HS-47: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZWzgo1jaNqcjJo kzbin.infoBPReIoZ-2Nw?feature=share

[@wizrom3046]

This is a very nice design! I like your way of making the stages modular, so you can just add more stages. You need a way to increase the capacitor discharge rate in the last stages where the velocity is higher. All you need to do is reduce the number of turns of each stage, so as stages get less turns they have less inductance and the magnetic field will be created faster and with more intensity (but less duration). Also, if you connect ALL the led sensors to a scope channel, you will see a series of pulses as the projectile triggers each sensor. That should allow you to calculate the acceleration for each stage, and help you to tune each stage by the number of turns on the coils. How many turns did you use in this prototype? Did you measure the inductance?

[@jeronimomurruni]

If all the energy from every capacitor is discharged in the coil, you have 65 joules of energy with each stage. That's a lot of energy, for instance a 9mm round has arround 480 joules so you'd only need 7 stages to have that energy. Of course, is not a 100% efficient system but still, it's scary how powerful this thing can be.

[@Frk_Tamer]

well, thats the purpose of a RAILgun.... :P

[@matatisan]

Most coilguns efficiency doesn't reach even 10%

[@TheArachnoBot]

Coilguns have horrible efficiency, it's around 5% for this one. So about 15 joules, which is still impressive.

[@ussweeneyd]

Fascinating; I’m hooked on this concept. What about spacing the coils at increasing distance from each preceding one to use the inertia of the projectile and “catch” it at optimum position for the next coil ?

[@mhagnew]

I would think you'd be better tuning each stage for the velocity of the round as it passed through. If you spread the coils apart, wouldn't you increase the amount of time that the bullet is not influenced by a coil? That would lengthen the gun without appreciable benefit.

[@filonin2]

The projectile stops accelerating the instant the coil turns off so spacing them out would only allow the projectile to slow down. Ideally you would have 0 space between coils but that isn't possible.

[@Daiki-c9u]

It's a very good invention, but I think you should place the phototransistors at the beginning of the coil. I know you'll say that they will turn off before entering the coil, but here's the best part: the shape of the bullets... If the bullets were shaped like a 'U', the light could pass through them until it hits the junction at the end, which would prevent the bullet from slowing down as it exits the other side.

The thyristor cannot be turned off (it keeps passing the current as long as the capacitor is charged) or am I missing something?

[@intocoasters]

Hello, and thanks for sharing this project. I have a couple of questions. I may have missed something, but as I look at the circuit it appears that crossing the IR beam triggers the coil rather than turning it off. This seems to be supported in that each additional module has the IR beam at the entry of the coil. Also, what is the white LED for?

[@weithiamneo1442]

Maybe the photo diode can placed before the coil and use a timer to optimize the coil turn off time and trigger next coil turn on. As the bullet get progressively faster, the timer gets shorter for each stage.

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

Yes, we could use two detectors, one at the input and one at the output and making test we can find the perfect timing...

[@Kaching017]

First add a launcher. Then add sensor before the bullet enters the coil to prevent the pulling resistances in the middle of coils. Then increase the capacitors value(Diy capacitor gives you a better result) in every stages rather than adding more coils. I think you can achieve 2kg of force.

[@gamekyuubi42069]

Cool design. Do you think maybe you could gain some efficiency if you put the photosensor just before the coil instead of just afterward? IIRC it takes a moment for the flow in the coil to stop, so maybe it would be better in the front?

[@survivalinthezombieapocaly2142]

Yes of course. Maybe, maybe. See also: !Coilgun and Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse (Step by step assembly of Coil Gun from 01:57) kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWq6hpZ9rNKGa9U

[@derueberfall]

Very neat project! Some thoughts for possible improvements: Since the bullet goes trough the later stages very fast it might be a good idea to switch to coils with lower inductance and capacitors with lower ESR (inner resistance) like foilcapacitors. That way you might be able to increase power output of those later stages to add noticeable energy to the projectile.

[@esodmf_ih8fibs]

Are all the coils energized before firing? Could you use a magnetic projectile and switch the coils north/south to push and pull? How would using compressed air and maybe some rifling to launch the projectile effect speed? I so want to make one in a semi automatic. Thanks I know I'll be laying awake tonight thinking about making this

[@survivalinthezombieapocaly2142]

Maybe, maybe. Yes of course. See also New: Apocalypse Coilgun, Fallout Coilgun kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWqQm36Nhd6AfNGH

[@ThinkingFurry]

If all the coils were energised that'll just drain the capacitors making it weaker

[@robwray3563]

I think this is a great project. It’s obvious that plenty of time and expense has been put into it. I see a lot of “armchair” engineers in the comments. There are always different and maybe better ways of doing things with electronics projects. Sometimes compromises need to be made to get most of the desired results. I feel this could be a fun thing to put together. I have already ordered the parts to make this project myself. Thank you for your time.

[@sleepinbed]

Great video, but I do have one question: The power gets cut off from the coil only when the tip of the bullet exits. This means the bullet has already passed the halfway point of the coil and the bullet will spend the time between then and exiting working against the field. This, to me, seems like it could potentially be significant? Assuming the same bullet is used each time (material, weight, dimensions), can't we theoretically find the time it takes for the bullet to enter the coil and make it to the halfway point, put the IR sensor at the beginning of the coil, and add a capacitor to the circuit to create a delay? Of course, the time would be different for each coil. Also, something else: adding more coils will not scale linearly and in the long run it will worsen the performance because the speed of the bullet changes from coil to coil and I hope you can see why this makes sense, and how a fix like this would solve the problem. I'm only a student so this may be a miss but, yeah :)

Very nice work, this is exactly the type of videos why I have subscribed to this channel :) I have just a few ideas: 1) It would be great to explain in the video why you have finally decided on thyristors rather than MOSFETs or IGBTs 2) Instead of using IR LED/phototransistor pairs, I'd go for already pre-made photo barriers - for example, the H2010 photo-interrupter has a 10mm spacing, so it would fit an 8mm tube perfectly ;) 3) Please, share also the EasyEDA project, not only the gerber files (I think there is an option in EasyEDA to make the project public) - if someone would like to make some adjustments or improvements to the PCB (to fit different components, etc.)

[@69iqtutorial]

Thyristors are forgiving parts, their peak repetive current can be over 600 amps for a 16 amp thyristor, and they still won't die,

[@1kreature]

Tyristors do not turn off again until current goes to 0... This means it drains each cap as it runs. I don't think that was the intention.

[@kahlesjf]

Excellent video. Well narrated, explained, filmed, and nice use of graphics. Doubt I would ever build one, but this is how electronic projects ought to be demonstrated on KZbin.

[@yusufgaridi9523]

With such a quality work, mankind will reach far far away galaxies sooner

[@rhysrhysu8038]

It's good to see some new videos on this topic! I am currently designing my own multi stage modular coil gun design with optical triggers. I have designed it with fire control for single burst and auto. I can't wait to get to the prototyping stage. I almost have all my components for testing.

[@winfordnettles3292]

The problem that you will run into with auto fire will be the charge time required of the capacitors.

[@ayanvaidya2727]

Question : how can scr (thyristor) turn off by gate? Gate can't turn off scr it can only turn it on to turn off scr current through it must get lower than specified value(don't remember the name of the rating) Or are these not scr and something else?

[@TheElectronicEngineer]

Question: How did you decide on the number of windings of each coil? At some point the speeding 'bullet' will cause a self induction in each coil that will counteract your generated induction.. Therefore, there will be a limit to the number of boards you can use...at some point the number of boards will not have any effect. That's why the number of windings on each coil is important. How did you deal with that?

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

The windings were made at random without any calculation for now. And yes, for sure there is a speed limit given by the structure and the components...

[@Azettler1]

I hadn't thought about that but you are correct! If I understand at a certain point your CEMF will equal your applied voltage. The current induced*coil resistance would need to be greater than your voltage source. To achieve the same velocity (physical domain not considered) either turns needs to decrease or voltage to increase.

[@aterxter3437]

the issue of self induction is, i my oppinion negligible, the phenomenom of self induction is created by a changing magnetic field inside of the coil . With just a steel bullet, the magnetic field created by the bullet , because of the eddy currents will stay really low, in front of the magnetic field created by a neodinium magnet projectile (see tom stanton's Electromagnetic Rail Launcher) even with a magnetic projectile, in his build, the self induction is showed as negligible, not taking it into account for simulations give results very similar to the real data

[@user-rs8zg8ey2b]

@@aterxter3437 Yes, I agree too.

[@carlrooker]

Pretty good design. One thing you have not taken into consideration is the aerodynamics of the projectile after it leaves the barrel. A cylindrical projectile like you are using will start tumbling shortly after it leaves the barrel. Meaning more irresistance, more unpredictability in its flight, and when it hits the target it will "keyhole" which means it will go in side ways part of the time. Also, the weight of such a cylinder would be heavy enough to actually slow the projectiles acceleration. My suggestion is to use a spherical projectile. Like a bb, or small ball bearing. You'll get a much more predictable path after it leaves the barrel. Also, it will leave the barrel at a much higher speed because of the conservation of mass and energy. The smaller the mass of the projectile, the faster the same amount of energy will make it go. The muzzle energy will be the same, even though the mass of the projectile is less, because the muzzle velocity will be faster. The law of the conservation of mass and energy in effect. Also, in this setup because the bb would be rolling in in the barrel top over bottom, you can use this effect to effectively increase the range of the projectile. They do this in airsoft BB guns.

[@Chevifier]

One step at a time😅

[@michaellin4553]

If you put a sensor before each segment, you can then use a timer for each segment to turn off right at the center. You have to calibrate each one individually and measure the output velocity. But the good thing is, you can calibrate each in order and it won't affect the later segments. Just optimize stage by stage.

[@WallabyWinters]

You could easily calculate the velocity by how long the sensors get blocked and calibrate them this way without much trial and error.

[@naasking]

​@@WallabyWinters you could probably even design it to autoregulate. When the sensor gets blocked, activate the coil and charge a capacitor while it's blocked. The speed of the projectile (and time to keep coil active) will be proportional to the charge level (charge time) of the capacitor. So keep the coil running until the capacitor discharges below a certain level. Properly designed, this should be auto-regulating: faster projectile, lower charge time, lower coil active time, and vice versa.

[@tosunabi1664]

Nice project. Why instead of cutting the current you don't invert it? Thus you'll get extra push as it passes from the second half of the coil. Can you try that?

[@ThinkingFurry]

You need to use a magnetic projectile for that to work

[@JohnJaggerJack]

Your channel is so underrated, i see other main stream youtubers have a go at this project and their results are subpar compared to yours. Yes you're using a more dangerous design that uses high voltage, but what isn't dangerous in these new times we live in. As always very good content and educational as usual.

[@nickstanley5064]

Well, you might want to take a look at this coilgun attempt then: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ7CoI2Qj6d_oJo. The guy went through quite a bit of effort to model and simulate the magnetic of the coils, how the inductance changes when a projectile passes through... It's really impressive imo.

[@palkovsky5483]

Hello. I have a question. Why did you use two types of diodes 2A10 and FR607G. I think those diodes have the same parameters. Can i use 2A10? That one is more popular. Thank for answer.

[@over2there]

Some comments to your great project. I like the modularity of your design. 1. Replacing Thyristors with Mosfets (and add propper Gate Driver) can also turn off the voltage. That can be usefull to avoid retraction of the protile. 2. Replacing the freewheeling diode with a TVS snubber will turn off current much faster. Or use a full bridge mosfet topology for better energy recovery. 3. I would place the detector circuit directly inside the coil. Then directly the current can be turned off. 4. The capacitors you choose have high esr. Maybe use a foil capacitor. At least they bang much better when shorted. 5. Did you experiment or calculate the inductance? From my feeling there must be an optimal one. 6. I would switch the design to pure smd as it would be more robust.

[@ThinkingFurry]

Quite a lot of MOSFETs might not be suited for this applications and also Thyristors are cheaper than a MOSFET suited for this purpose.

[@stephenjacks8196]

Have you tried Bismuth shot? (BBs). The coils work on magnetic materials. Bismuth is antiferromagnetic so it mirrors a magnet for repulsion, so stronger the magnet the stronger the force on Bismuth.

[@martiansoon9092]

You could almost double the effectivness if you just reverse the magnetic field when you now shut it down. In this way both ends of the coil will pull/push the ammunition... Also if you do this, then shut stages off after next stages led detects it. And you could turn stage on after previous led detects it. These on/off switches saves some energy for the next round.

[@herosvicentegonzalez7872]

The bullet isn't a magnet, it's a pice of metal, reversing the polarity of the magnetic field won't do anything

[@isorukuyamamoto9168]

Reversing wont work, but id say putting the photo switch on the start rather than end would help, perhaps with a delay. Or use a software driven timer, where you finetune each shutoff time based on the stage & projectile mass

[@FH-cn3mg]

@@herosvicentegonzalez7872 Unless you could produce polarization in the projectile somehow. Maybe by pre-priming the projectiles in a magazine or using a series of blades to transfer electrons to the projectile, then you could potentially either make a temporary magnet out of it, (it doesn't need to be very long) or polarize it so that the magnets can pull and push it.

[@rotorblade9508]

it is possible to synchronize it using a microprocessor and virtually remove the speed limit. it is also possible to place a special coil set to make the bulet rotate to stabilise it.

[@honestlocksmith5428]

Until the projectile can't take the stress... Also, at some point, PWM will be required to control the timing, so it will need to be connected to a communication bus. Which i think is the easiest method as it provides precise control over the power and timing. I think it could easily be scaled down to a kitchen table project.

[@RaptorRotorHead]

Will it penetrate a 1/16 inch plate of Steel???

[@likenimi]

Nice work, but i don't understood one moment: as i know thyristor opens (makes current pass trough it) when voltage applied to channel AND to control leg. But more importantly - it turns off only when both of voltages is ~0 V. In this scheme when phototransisotor stops appling voltage on control leg of thyristor current still must flow trough coil because there is still voltage applied to channel of thyristor because of capacitor. Only case how current stops in this scheme is when capacitor fully discharged after "opening". So how this scheme work? How thyristor stop to conduct current by phototransistor?

[@Handles_AreStupid]

I swear I saw these exact schematics and designs in use on sites like aliexpress before this video was released. Did you design or reverse engineer these?

[@survivalinthezombieapocaly2142]

Yes of course. Maybe, maybe. Look here: ! New: Apocalypse Coilgun, Fallout Coilgun kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWqQm36Nhd6AfNE See also: Portable Super Coilgun: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJTPfaaHbtOsm8k&feature=youtu.be kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y57NdaSmlNSKkM0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j32yiqupptudrZI kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHbVoptmebSSiZI kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXesgmammKuNprc

[@HeroeMetanfetamina]

envez de usar tanto voltaje, porque no usaste mas amperaje? Pará crear mas fuerza de empuje 🥺

[@JPSkriP]

The moment i saw the clip of it shooting the projectile into the cardboard box, thats all i needed as proof you know what your doing, and subscribed. Lol. Awesome project. And its such a simple circuit. I love it. Simple, and straight forward. Will be building one down the road. Thanks for sharing your design and layout. On another note, i like your wall background with the motheboards. I have my workspace the same way. Got the idea from a video on Linus Tech. They did his office completely in motherboards on one wall. Painted it all in 1 color. I did the same, but added it couple ARGB light strips to glow from behind the boards onto the wall and using EL Wire, traced the mosfet heatsinks, and each boards shape to outline it like in the movie TRON. Turned out amazing. Maybe a idea for your wall? :)

[@Thetravelingmonke]

Top three reasons to get a career in engineering: 3: it is often a interesting and fun thing usually the schools are stressful but it does seem nice and an interesting thing to learn 2: you can make nice things when you want 1: simply you can make your own asssains creed hidden blades and your own coil guns

[@thezombieguy426]

It even had a freaking recoil ... how cool that'd look in a 3d printed case like a gun.

[@НикитаЦыпанов]

Yes of course. It's cool. See also my first Coilgun (New coil - wire 2 mm) : m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zp-wqqluaMSsma8

[@Dongyuuu]

Can you thread the tube to make a bullet rotation? Maybe it can be more powerful?

[@hdwoods3853]

it wouldnt make it more powerful it would slow it down, its more friction

[@SlaVoy]

Loading 450V caps to 500V? Cold joints? PCB traces clearance for high voltage? This project looks really safe xD

[@SlaVoy]

@@howtomakeacoilgunoffallout4096 Nice work :)

[@SlaVoy]

@@howtomakeacoilgunoffallout4096 cool :)

[@tomgannicus5362]

this could be future for modern weapons. can you compare speed to fired guns and how compact could you put all in place to have kind of weapon.

[@Джедайс]

how the velocity of bullet?

[@DevPatel-xg4pd]

Good english 😂😂

[@davidechiappetta]

I made a magnetic rifle with a few coils and little power that turn on and off in a very rapid sequence in a logarithmic way without photoelectric cells and electronic control elements, and the tube is not made of iron but of PVC because the iron tube absorbs magnetism of the coils before the projectile (using an iron tube is ridiculous in these cases)

[@MitsuZer0G]

would be interesting if you could measure/calculate the speed and the kinetic energy of the bullet

[@felisclarke8090]

@Electronoobs Can I use normal copper wire or do I use enameled copper wire and what’s the difference? Any help?

[@RODOLFO.M.S]

🙏🏼🇧🇷🌱👍 Muito obrigado pela oportunidade de aprender com seus vídeos. Obs: Seria interessante entre as bobinas colocar imã de neodímio para aumentar a energia cinética... Uma arma.

[@kennethcason]

This is the coolest tutorial for a coil gun that I've seen yet. Very educational and well done!

[@weiduo]

check out my 145m/s velocity coil gun using 1000V film capacitors. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ6Xl6Ztg714r7s

[@williamsteele]

It seems to me that you can also use the PD to detect when to switch the polarity of the coil... that way you can use it to not only pull the projectile into it, but to also forcefully expel it to the next stage.

[@kikeekik]

The projectile is ferromagnetic, that means it only has the polarity the coil inducts to it. Maybe you can take advantage of the small magnetization but just for a small fraction of a second

[@mikebond6328]

Suppose one uses neodymium magnet projectiles.

[@kikeekik]

@@mikebond6328 in that case then it could work, but I don’t know the feasibility of neodymium magnet as a bullet, it easily cracks, and if heated, it loses their magnetic properties for ever (with induction, maybe the coil is heating

[@InfiniteDice]

What about putting the detector on the front side with a delay? Might be tricky but isn't the bullet slowing too much by time you're detecting it on the other side? Or make the nose of the projectile non magnetic so it can trip the sensor a bit ahead of time?

[@morphman86]

Since the speed increases for each coil, until the theoretical maximum speed, I believe you'll eventually end up at a point where the projectile moves past a coil faster than the coil can turn off using the photoresistor. You could get around this by using a timed release mechanism instead, but that would be hard to make modular. The timing between each coil is [projectile acceleration] less than the previous timer, thus turning the coil off just when the projectile hits the middle point.

[@andywolan]

I like your solution for shutting off the magnetic field between stages. Cheap and effective. I was thinking about using a controller to time things accordingly, but I think that route is only necessary if you want to archive greater speeds with the projectile.

[@erahmadkamram]

that is really amazing as you have explained everything in detail and with the help of animation

[@danielpunzanovidal9105]

El problema que veo en este diseño es que los proyectiles no mantienen su orientación. Esto sucede porque al contrario de lo que pasa en las balas, tu proyectil no rota sobre sí mismo, y no hay nada que se resista a que vaya girando a lo loco. Creo que sí inventaras algún sistema que hiciera rotar el proyectil, el momento angular haría que se estabilizara en el vuelo

[@roganthoerson1909]

how do you discharge the capacitors without firing ? Can it have an automatic mode ? How do you know when capacitors are full ? wouldn't be better to use 18v batteries from tools like Ryobi or bosh or... Why not having the first stages having the detector after the coil and the last ones before the coil so that you are less influenced by the speed of the comutation ?

[@theminer49erz]

Very nice work man!! You did a fantastic job! Not only at the project itself, but the video is extremely well made all around as well! Extra props on the safety warnings and explanations. You don't wanna a big cap incorrectly!! [ZAP!!!] Thanks!! It's kinda creepy because I was just wondering(internally) about what it would take to make one of these for a practical (non violent) application. Looks like it's too much unless they are available in kits and inexpensive. It was a off the wall thought, as many of mine can be thankfully.

[@davidprock904]

Is there a way to keep it more analog, I'm thinking one really long coil with many tap points, or even go as far to have a tap point on each loop. And let the tube the made of washers with insulator in-between each washer. And when your projectile is making contact with the washers they act like switches shorting/ grounding the individual loops of the long coil, so the coil behind or just after the front of the projectile has no power always keeping the strongest part of magnetic pull just at the nose of the projectile! What's your thoughts on this. Would be a lot of short wires I'm thinking but you could eliminate the circuit boards?

[@douglasalmeida6878]

The projectile must be tipped with a non-ferrous material to trigger the sensor before the iron reaches the opposite magnetic field

[@gurmeharsingh2333]

From what I have understood, why do we need an IR sensor to detect the position of the projectile. Dont the capacitors provide a small burst of current, and once discharged, they no more provide current to the coils. If this is correct, then can we somehow (by changing the length of the projectile) omit the use of the IR sensor?

[@WhoWantsToKnow81]

What you could do is add two pairs of infrared detectors at a fixed length, then measure the time it takes to cross them. With that, you could determine the speed of your bullet, and answer questions such as: Does the speed linearly increase when I add more stages? :)

[@formes2388]

Each stage will accelerate it by a smaller amount of velocity as a result of reduced time + greater impact of air friction as the object you are throwing accelerates. But the acceleration rate that each coil provides should be consistent - though as a net total, you will see diminishing returns (hello friction). The reason you see this is faster objects are impacted by air friction more aggressively, while faster moving objects will spend less time in the magnetic field accelerating. If you wanted to measure - you do have sensors built in already though: All you need is to track from the time you hit the button, until the time each subsequent sensor is triggered - and since you have a nice way built in to do it, what you are looking for is a simple drop in current which can be tracked pretty damn accurately. This would actually let you do something a little crazier and add in a timing circuit that is responsible for shutting off the magnetic field / turning them on, not based on the detection of the sensor - but when you calculate out the ideal shut off time (once accounting for other variables). This does add more complexity - which you will want to keep as simple as possible, as complex systems run slower, and running slower means we need to account for this in final output and... it just gets complicated fast. To summarize: You could, but I'm not sure it's necessary - unless that information is going to be useful in refining the optimization of the device.

[@mfx1]

@@formes2388 Removing the air from the tube would be a significant performance increase but also introduce detection problems, you should be able to detect the slug entering the coil electronically rather than optically but that would add significant complexity.

[@Maharishi.]

How many turns in each coil did you give? It is not specified, no delivery in my area from the given link, need to make it myself.

[@Virologic]

What if it was 100 stages

[@griddymaster445]

I think with this design it will have a terminal velocity, where the capacitor cannot discharge through the coil fast enough, and the friction of the barrel will prevent it from any further acceleration.

[@samueldavies646]

Hyperspace pirate did a good video on the efficiency versus amount of stages

[@hatemfilmsmoviemaking3805]

Magnetic saturation

[@samueldavies646]

@@hatemfilmsmoviemaking3805 isnt that only with transformer cores and their stored energy and has nothing to do with this

[@SunakSunak-b9t]

Max speed limiter by voltage

[@vowojciech]

Small question - cant you place phototransistor before coil and add small delay to "turn off coil" action? This could be more efficient for end velocity of projectile.

[@isalihkilic]

When you add more stages, it will lose efficiency each step. As the kinetic energy is proportional to the V^2. When you apply the same energy to the bullet, you'll gain less speed at each stage.

[@ELECTRONOOBS]

Yes, for sure there is a speed limit given by the structure and the components...

[@Fabian-ld4oi]

I'm not quit sure, if this is realy true. If you were able to switch the coil on and off in the right moment it shoudn't be a problem, since the coil will be active for a shorter time. But of course the growth in E kin isn't linerar.

[@willbaragwanath7312]

You are incredible, this is absolutely my next project u have made a childhood dream come true fr

[@imperialrecker7111]

Man just made a homemade rail gun 💀

[@dee319indranilchakraborty6]

Gauss gun or coil gun, not rail gun.. 💀 Rail gun works according to Flemming's left hand rule.. 🤚

[@cheemstaro_9262]

Really ? I couldnt tell that from the title at all!

[@proteous8100]

Mass driver

[@Alobster1]

That solder you were using looks like it was having some trouble flowing especially with those joints holding the coils on. You should try leaded solder if you aren't using it.

[@LorneAlexander]

thats gotta be close to supersonic...i didnt hear the crack of the wavefront breaking but it went through that pexiglass no problem. what if you threw in a voltage multiplier circuit or a capacitance multiplier, or added more loops? there must be a way to optimize the projectile length, so that its center of mass is in the right place when it passes through the ir led

[@leeaudio027]

so far i think this may be the best functioning coil gun on the internet so far!!

[@LiranBarsisa]

I don't know at all about this field, but can't you use some sensor in the coil to detect changes in the magnetic field, and when the bullet is exactly in the middle, stop powering this coil? Isn't it better than when the bullet passes the exit?

[@industrialvectors]

Since you do your own coil, wouldn't it be possible to have the redlight detector at the center of the coil? Say by 3D printing the coil support with two holes (and edge) at the center?

[@owenkegg5608]

Nice. I've always wanted to make one where you can just attach more segments to the end ever since I knew how they worked but didn't have the sanity for a project like that. Looks great!

[@spasm]

Where does the dissipated energy from the coil being shut off go to? Is it just heat? Residual magnetic forces? Anything noticeable? Only asking because on a bigger scale it could have potential cause some drawbacks in the fundamental design of the overall coil gun, either upon testing/firing, or the long term use of the coilgun.

[@Nothingdiffrent1234]

Software you used to design pcb 3D looking?

[@chrisbrooks89]

I have been thinking about a paintball gun type design for gravity feeding with an emp firing system. I thought about another round ball like any of the rounds from the hopper being dropped into a hole between a pair of coils. With some coils facing one way and the rest facing the opposite direction and the two sets opposing eachother. I was wondering about using that as the power source and the capacitors for the emp. Let me know what you think.

[@liudas000]

Nice one! Just auto loading option would be neat ;) And I have a question - why sensor is after the coil? it should cost small, but still some drag... Maybe would be better to make a coil with a hole in the middle of it?

[@eliaszerano3510]

You made any tests over more distance ? How far does the bullet fly ?

[@naturix8446]

Super für Frühlingsfest geeignet. Danke für den anderen Alltags - Einfall !

[@douggale5962]

I like the first spark 5:23 . That was the universe saying "Nice try buddy, you can't interrupt the current in THAT coil, you kidding?" I like the description that says "cut off power" while talking about inductor current. Good luck, it will punch right across your thyristor that you think is off. Why doesn't it blow up the switch? It is stuck on until the current is zero right? It just coasts to zero current?

[@eugenemakarenko370]

is it possible to use round metal balls (for airsorft guns) instead of cylinders?

[@blendpinexus1416]

i love both coil and rail guns in the diy space. both have their own drawbacks and pros but in the end are very fun to play with.

[@emilmckellar4932]

Can you add a vacuum pump on the barrel with a flip up rubber valve at the end. that way you can reach higher speeds as you eeduce the drag. You can open the end valve in sequence after the last coil. If you use Nudinium magnets as ammo, and use them in the same polarity you dont need to cut the coil power but reverse it 1/2 wat through. That way you will get more power per coil cycle

[@ilikedeathmetal7458]

Just want to make sure. If we purchase the Aliexpress Coilgun Kit is it supporting your project? And does it have English instructions?

[@sgrouge]

Woaw, it is indeed powerful. Impresive how it can pass through the prefab board! And the design is very modular and simple, I love the idea. Just wanna see more videos on this project :)

[@alexhri]

Question regarding pcbway: do they have manufacturing sites within the EU or do you have to pay import tax from the US?

[@survivalinthezombieapocaly2142]

Maybe, maybe. See also forgotten weapon Coilgun HS-47: kzbin.infoBPReIoZ-2Nw?feature=share kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoipYnV9os6nbZo

[@FutureAIDev2015]

Why not use the Hall effect to measure the changing magnetic field when the projectile crosses the center of the coil?

[@leightonwestbury92]

This is awesome, would you be able to fire metal ball bearings?, if you could, you could have a hopper at the top and gravity feed them into the barrel ..........awesome work, this is the only 1 I've seen that is modular and also powerful