Optimising a Magnetic Launcher

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[@CT5555_]

That sponsor though. "We're going to make up some arbitrary number of how bad your carbon footprint is, and then provide you the ability to pay to get rid of the guilt we purposely gave you." If that's not a scam, I don't know what is.

[@NicholasRehm]

It’s all fun and games at the Nerf match until Tom shows up with a handheld version of this with an automatic trigger and backpack mounted battery

[@msachin4885]

Honestly, your channel is such a gold mine. This is one of the best demonstrations of the engineering process at work: you find the issue, you think of a solution, and then you tinker and optimize until you've achieved what you've set out for. You demonstrate this whole process so eloquently in your videos that it's inspiring

[@OMGWTFBBQSHEEP]

Wow the slow-mo of that glider taking off was glorious. And the release mechanism working exactly as intended!

[@jackflash6377]

Calculate how long it takes for the coil to reach maximum magnetic power, use this to determine how far the triggering hall effect sensor needs to be to optimize energizing the coils as the velocity increases. Also, when you lower the winding count, increase the wire size. Remember, wind count has an effect on the speed at which the magnetic field builds to maximum.

[@danwood1121]

That slow motion shot of the launch sled falling away from the glider looked fantastically elegant, awesome project!

[@Coneshot]

I built a mass driver as a science fair project back in the '80's, I got around the curve flattening by progressively spacing the driver coils further apart as they went down the track. My reasoning was like a transmission in a car the impulses then match the speed of the projectile as it accelerates.

[@peterwells4424]

Brilliant video Tom. Even when I cannot quite follow all the info you are giving. You still make it all clear enough to make it really interesting.

[@cowcar87]

Excellent video, Tom. Very interesting and clearly presented data that you've provided. Keep up the great work. Slow-mo was amazing.

[@smartereveryday]

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

[@quint3ssent1a]

I love how this channel started as modelling planes and various flying ... things (some of them is hard to describe) but then evolved into trebuchets and now its about building a coilgun.

[@EthanHale]

I love watching the progression by tweaking certain factors. I also learned a lot as you walked us through the process. Keep up the great work!

[@davidebevilacqua2575]

You can improve even more replacin alluminium rod with plastic, a magnet sliding on metal tends to reduce the speed because of the inducted current generated by the movement.

[@IncroyablesExperiences]

A way to know which reason is the most limiting would have been to make a regression, it the curve is close to an exponential it's mostly a back EMF reason, if the curve is close to a square root, it's mostly due to kinetic energy (harder and harder to increase for a given power).

[@johngreen1060]

The air gap is still ~40mm long. The other side of the electromagnet is open, so the magnetic flux has to flow to the next electromagnet via air. The overall reluctance is still quite high and can be greatly reduced by tying backs of electromagnets with an iron bar and using a magnet that partially overlaps 2 electromagnets.

[@lancekuttner4033]

Really enjoyed the curiosity and detail - thanks Tom

[@Larpy1933]

Totally excellent. Especially the slo-mo videography of the glider launches at the conclusion. Thanks!

[@matekovacs2696]

A few ideas:

[@Pillow_Princess]

For those still confused about the difference between railguns and coilguns:

[@CyberKnightX21]

I love listening to the audio on the slow mo of the plane launch at the end. You can hear each individual pull or push of the magnet on the sled.