Electromagnetic Rail Launcher

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  • Опубликовано: 27 окт 2021
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Комментарии • 3,9 тыс.

  • @integza
    @integza 2 года назад +7409

    "Aircraft Launcher" , thats a freaking gun Tom, a cool gun though

    • @P8FPV
      @P8FPV 2 года назад +227

      You should be making vids not watching them 😉😉👌

    • @cvvoorst
      @cvvoorst 2 года назад +86

      Maybe a launch system for your future rockets?

    • @davidarchbald2206
      @davidarchbald2206 2 года назад +96

      @Integza It would probably destroy tomatos!

    • @neodidi
      @neodidi 2 года назад +14

      Was about to say same

    • @RaimarLunardi
      @RaimarLunardi 2 года назад +58

      Rail gun it is then!

  • @JoelCreates
    @JoelCreates 2 года назад +647

    Tom: "Your turn little one"
    Coil: "Are you winding me up?"

    • @StrikeEagIe
      @StrikeEagIe 2 года назад +1

      Hmm

    • @ABC-rh7zc
      @ABC-rh7zc 2 года назад +21

      That's it! I'm calling the coppers!

    • @markp5726
      @markp5726 2 года назад +8

      Tom: "That depends, are you attracted or repelled?"

    • @786ALHAQ
      @786ALHAQ 2 года назад

      yes, cause i m attracted to you

    • @triplus198
      @triplus198 Месяц назад

      Joel?!

  • @doomyboi
    @doomyboi 2 года назад +16

    5:13 That look of betrayal, staring directly into the camera. That cheese stick trusted you.

  • @bens383
    @bens383 2 года назад +30

    You know this is how particle accelerators work? Like the large Hadron collider. The particles are attracted by large electromagnets which then switch to repel the particle away - arranged in a circle this allows the particle to be accelerated to some insane speeds, before they smash it into another particle really fast because why not 🤷‍♂️

    • @bens383
      @bens383 2 года назад +4

      @@alicenulla5264 just yeets it across the universe at nearly the speed of light 😆

  • @smartereveryday
    @smartereveryday 2 года назад +2441

    I love your channel so much. When I was a kid I tried to make a maglev track in my room. This makes me feel the same childlike wonder.

    • @brandonclements7875
      @brandonclements7875 2 года назад +11

      I feel The same way, i never made a whole track before but i have made coils from wrapping wires i stripped off a transformer around a small tube like a straw and flinging small metal rods through it.

    • @mateosegura1520
      @mateosegura1520 2 года назад +36

      I love how tight the Maker/Engineering RUclips space is. Knowing all of my favourite channels are all fans of eachother and enjoy these videos as much as I do makes it even better.

    • @filipponegrini4528
      @filipponegrini4528 2 года назад +4

      Hey Destin! It looks like both you and Tom tend to like blowing up stuff with DIY guns... But Tom is risking it all doing it inside. Lucky it's not a gallon of mayonnaise ahah🤪

    • @eurybaric
      @eurybaric 2 года назад +1

      @@mateosegura1520 Seriously! :D

    • @esnevip
      @esnevip 2 года назад +3

      You're still a kid Destin!

  • @PlasmaChannel
    @PlasmaChannel 2 года назад +2155

    Those jet sounds are fire, Tom. You’ve literally made a rail plane. Love it.

    • @JjMn1000
      @JjMn1000 2 года назад +1

      Yes

    • @remlya
      @remlya 2 года назад +5

      Any reason why you included the word literally when there’s nothing unclear about saying “you’ve made a rail plane.” Literally is just meaningless filler and you’re overusing and misusing the word.

    • @syndan9245
      @syndan9245 2 года назад +30

      @@remlya you are literally angry aren't you?

    • @theyeetus1428
      @theyeetus1428 2 года назад +20

      @@remlya Any reason why you included the word meaningless when there’s nothing unclear about saying “Literally is just filler" Meaningless is just filler and you’re being redundant.

    • @Mark-dl9ph
      @Mark-dl9ph 2 года назад +3

      when you and your sibling are supposed to be asleep ruclips.net/video/RXqP7l3TXHA/видео.html

  • @MrJdsenior
    @MrJdsenior 2 года назад

    Nice job. And as an EE, excellent description for the layman.
    And then the inner child comes to the surface, which was fun to watch.

  • @mzw685
    @mzw685 2 года назад +92

    I would love to see more of the build and design and engineering process as opposed to the hot dog launching personally, though neither part can stand on its own. They are both important.

  • @acrylicmarlin6356
    @acrylicmarlin6356 2 года назад +350

    Tom: "Aircraft Launcher"
    Everyone else: "Railgun"

    • @mrcourgette6275
      @mrcourgette6275 2 года назад +32

      its a coil gun not rail gun

    • @Blazeww
      @Blazeww 2 года назад +1

      Just need thicker wire and Mo Powa 👶.
      Slap a barrel on with a covering for looks.
      Can call it an ElectroRifle.

    • @rusduderus
      @rusduderus 2 года назад +5

      Surprised noone is calling it a gauss rifle, im used to this term more than railgun, from playing a lot of fallouts and stalkers!

    • @jmtx.
      @jmtx. 2 года назад

      @@mrcourgette6275 - It's a rail gun - look up the difference.

    • @Shy_Abi
      @Shy_Abi 2 года назад

      Correct

  • @Nighthawkinlight
    @Nighthawkinlight 2 года назад +440

    Nice work on those slomo shots in this one

    • @Pooopers
      @Pooopers 2 года назад

      who you calling slomo

    • @steprockmedia
      @steprockmedia 2 года назад +3

      The shot where there was a beetle in slow motion really captured it! Couldn't have planned it better.

    • @StrikeEagIe
      @StrikeEagIe 2 года назад

      Yo im early

    • @Mark-dl9ph
      @Mark-dl9ph 2 года назад +3

      when you and your sibling are supposed to be asleep ruclips.net/video/RXqP7l3TXHA/видео.html

    • @direct89
      @direct89 2 года назад

      He should put a lamp on the subject to reduce the noise

  • @general5104
    @general5104 2 года назад

    VERY INTERESTING !!!
    You may not realize this, but high speed rail lines are just starting to use this Principle to pull/shove monorail cars to their destinations. I studied this principle in tech college in the late 1980's. The coils are only hot in one area, where the train is.
    Thank you for making your prototype. It was very good !

  • @Z.O.M.G
    @Z.O.M.G Год назад

    Before anyone comments, this is not a railgun, as cool as they are, this is tehnicaly a ''coil gun'' or a ''gauss rifle''. Railguns use 2 rails with different charges and a sled passing inbetween connecting the 2 rails, pushing it foward. Coilguns, on the other hand, use a series of magnets that turn of and on to pull the sled, even if it uses a rail

  • @kevinvermeer9011
    @kevinvermeer9011 2 года назад +209

    6:42 - Housefly bogey has entered our airspace, interceptor aircraft launched! It would be neat to see an LED on each coil (over the MOSFET output, ~5mA wouldn't matter to the coils) and/or on the Hall effect output. With the high-speed camera, you could see all the timing.

    • @fdocasanova1
      @fdocasanova1 2 года назад +2

      that was a very fast housefly bogey

    • @alec1575
      @alec1575 2 года назад +3

      Lol i wondered who else saw it

    • @mr2ben
      @mr2ben 2 года назад +2

      Was coming here to see if anyone else noticed the fly!

    • @henrymallett6847
      @henrymallett6847 2 года назад

      @@mr2ben Yup me too!!

  • @LuxesBR
    @LuxesBR 2 года назад +8

    The sound effects at 1:45 got you a like and a sub!

  • @killersnake1901
    @killersnake1901 Год назад +2

    alternative title : "I made an paper plane launcher" (6:00)
    (it was really cool btw)

  • @esc8engn
    @esc8engn 2 года назад

    i'm already a regular microcenter customer. they're like 1.8 miles away from my house. lifesaver.

  • @GadgetAddict
    @GadgetAddict 2 года назад +250

    I'm glad I stayed untill the end. Seeing those planes being launched was awesome!

    • @Beakerzor
      @Beakerzor 2 года назад +6

      the video really took flight at the end

  • @Project-Air
    @Project-Air 2 года назад +429

    Just when I thought your videos couldn't get much better, you go ahead and weaponise a sausage

    • @StrikeEagIe
      @StrikeEagIe 2 года назад +3

      It caught me off gaurd

    • @jyvben1520
      @jyvben1520 2 года назад

      @@StrikeEagIe (edited) wanted to add a typo, nice, what were you guarding ?

    • @StrikeEagIe
      @StrikeEagIe 2 года назад +1

      @@jyvben1520 Dude are you okay? It’s just a typo.

    • @jyvben1520
      @jyvben1520 2 года назад

      @@StrikeEagIe youtube is also educational, anyone can make a mistake, correcting it is not a crime.

    • @StrikeEagIe
      @StrikeEagIe 2 года назад

      @@jyvben1520 No dude, I made one small typo and you are getting all worked up about it

  • @revolution545
    @revolution545 2 года назад +6

    1:40 instead of turning it off you could reverse the positive and negative charges so that the polarity of the magnetic field is reversed and pushes the magnet away

    • @davidboktor4743
      @davidboktor4743 2 года назад

      Thats a really good point. How would one be able to reverse the positive and negative charges?

    • @revolution545
      @revolution545 2 года назад

      @@davidboktor4743 i was thinking that if you have an alternating timed switch that turns on one connection, say positive end to it, then once the magnet is away, it turns on negative and repeats until its no longer needed

  • @cellofellow461
    @cellofellow461 2 года назад

    AYYYYYY THE ROLLERCOASTER AT THE BEGINNING IS THE SKYROCKET, MY FAVORITE RIDE AT MY HOME PARK

  • @joepie221
    @joepie221 2 года назад +1106

    Always excellent videos. Bonus material......Slow motion bee captured at 6:44 in the background, racing the plane at take off.

  • @siberx4
    @siberx4 2 года назад +161

    In addition to flipping the magnet polarity halfway through to increase the force applied by each magnet, you can also vary the timing between each sensor detection and the coil activation to improve the output.
    Since the payload speed varies dramatically along the rail, the optimum delay between sled detection and coil activation will also vary. Conveniently, you can use the time difference between the previous two detections to get an estimate of the current velocity of the sled, so you can actually make this time offset dynamic relative to the mass of your payload with no additional hardware.
    Some people commented to instead vary the spacing between each coil, but that's just wasting rail space and acceleration distance (not to mention the optimum spacing would vary with payload mass). You have such a good idea of the position and velocity of your sled with the sensor setup that keeping the coils closely packed and varying the timing will give better results.
    Also note that as suggested by some others, optical sensors might be more tolerant to the substantial magnetic field you're dealing with in case you find you're getting spurious/early triggers due to the field from the previous coils going off, which might be a bigger problem once you're flipping the polarity.

    • @eurybaric
      @eurybaric 2 года назад +4

      he's using hall effect to trigger the mosfet so the activation would be consistant with the position of the sled, no matter what speed. Am i misunderstanding your comment?

    • @eurybaric
      @eurybaric 2 года назад

      Wait i think my question now is why is there a delay the higher the velocity?

    • @siberx4
      @siberx4 2 года назад +11

      @@eurybaric It's the opposite; there should be LESS delay the faster the projectile is moving. This all happens really fast (to us), we're talking milliseconds or microseconds. Ages to a digital circuit or microprocessor though.

    • @amhaendrayes7322
      @amhaendrayes7322 2 года назад +1

      Optical sensor would make sense.

    • @siberx4
      @siberx4 2 года назад +2

      @@eurybaric This would only be true if the entire circuit from hall effect detection to coil reaching full current happens instantaneously, and if the hall effect sensor is spaced at the exact appropriate distance from the coil to maximze energy transfer. In all other scenarios, there will be some time offsets involved which means the optimum activation time will vary with sled velocity.
      Imagine he tests and finds he gets the most acceleration from a single coil by activating it 5 milliseconds after hall effect detection at a given initial starting velocity. This means optimum position is whatever distance the sled travels in 5ms after the sensor at initial velocity is the ideal spacing, but for the next coil that delay will be lower because the sled will travel more distance in the same time (since it's moving faster after the first push). This is the variable delay he'll need to account for to get optimum output from the whole rail; the time for the sled to travel a bit from the sensor to the optimum activation point minus whatever lag exists in his sensing/driving circuits and coil.

  • @BobsTheBuild3r
    @BobsTheBuild3r 2 года назад +2

    2:29 that solder job is amazing

  • @genexxer1
    @genexxer1 2 года назад

    I love your video editing. The footage caught some interesting angles and content!

  • @murrayhorn8817
    @murrayhorn8817 2 года назад +59

    Tom, put an Led next to (electrically accross) each coil. It would be cool to see them switch on in slow motion.

    • @jmikronis7376
      @jmikronis7376 2 года назад +1

      Yep. For all the geeks, so says Captain Obvious.

    • @bloogaming8827
      @bloogaming8827 2 года назад +3

      This is a great idea! It’ll help with making sure they’re all timed properly for maximum acceleration too!

  • @woowooNeedsFaith
    @woowooNeedsFaith 2 года назад +80

    6:41 - It flies as fast as a fly in the middle of the screen. How did you do that? How did you manage to teach a fly to fly along your paper plane?

    • @bmxscape
      @bmxscape 2 года назад +7

      that fly must be going 11m/s

    • @onglogman
      @onglogman 2 года назад +12

      heavy air traffic that day

    • @NicksStuff
      @NicksStuff 2 года назад +2

      With the help of Microcenter!

    • @Squilliam-Fancyson
      @Squilliam-Fancyson 2 года назад +4

      magnetic fly i guess

    • @tornadokat
      @tornadokat 2 года назад +4

      We missed the start where the fly is like "You wanna go, bro? Ya, you wanna?! C'mon let's go!!!"

  • @omniscientcrab3428
    @omniscientcrab3428 Год назад +3

    3:52 makes it look like the barrel of a railgun

  • @epicwheelz
    @epicwheelz 2 года назад

    absolutely beautiful slow motion shots

  • @somebodyoutofgermany250
    @somebodyoutofgermany250 2 года назад +153

    Military: Noooo, You can‘t just have a railgun at home.
    Tom: Haha, Paperplane launcher goes brrrrrr

    • @youkofoxy
      @youkofoxy 2 года назад +16

      Small correction, it's a coilgun.
      The difference is like between a robot and a mech.
      In a coilgun you have coils.
      In a railgun the projectile is the coil.

  • @ruki25
    @ruki25 2 года назад +640

    I'm pretty sure that despite having a rail, this is technically a Gauss-gun or Coil-gun. The title of Coil aircraft launcher is correct. If you had connected a bar across two rails that had a current through them then you'd have a true "Rail-gun."

    • @najwafitri9798
      @najwafitri9798 2 года назад +16

      S.E.M.L
      (Supersonic electro magnet launcher)

    • @pcenero
      @pcenero 2 года назад +27

      another difference between the two is that rail guns tend to destroy itself due to friction, while coil guns (probably) could be designed to last longer if the projectile isn't in contact with the track

    • @misterturkturkle
      @misterturkturkle 2 года назад +38

      This is a Gauss
      The difference between gauss and coil is that coil is a single magnet pair, gauss uses a series for additional acceleration and force

    • @oompalumpus699
      @oompalumpus699 2 года назад +9

      YT does not like the 'G' word.

    • @misterturkturkle
      @misterturkturkle 2 года назад +3

      @@oompalumpus699 Zimmerman St. Charles is dead

  • @mgrantom
    @mgrantom 2 года назад

    Really cool! I could hang out at Micro Center all day.

  • @patrickoconnor2181
    @patrickoconnor2181 2 года назад +4

    4:36
    Tell me you're at a spar, without telling me you're at a spar

  • @Jeremy-fy1sz
    @Jeremy-fy1sz 2 года назад +58

    Slight modification for the launcher. Put a pin across it and cut a small hook into the bottom of the paper plane so you can pull it from IN front of the C of G. The old school whitewings catapults used something like that.

    • @yetanother9127
      @yetanother9127 2 года назад +5

      Not wholly dissimilar to the connecting bars used by real aircraft catapults. Now Tom just needs to devise an arrestor system . . .

    • @kingsizedmidget7294
      @kingsizedmidget7294 2 года назад +5

      I just experienced a ratatouille style flashback when I read "whitewings"

    • @benjaminf8526
      @benjaminf8526 2 года назад +5

      @@kingsizedmidget7294 I just experienced a ratatouille style flashback when I read "ratatouille"

    • @nintenalex
      @nintenalex 2 года назад

      used to love those sets.

  • @tristanwegner
    @tristanwegner 2 года назад +45

    I expect a lot of speed can be gained by modifying the timing. They Halleffect sensor together with the Mosfet and the electronic has a latency, which is the same for each module, but the speed increases along the rail, thus the later magnets tend to stay on longer than optimal

    • @yoted
      @yoted 2 года назад +3

      As an addition to this, I wonder at what speed does the inductance of the coils start to matter as far as delaying the full application of the magnetic field. I would imagine faster than it’s currently going but perhaps it’s a consideration for larger/more turn coils (higher inductance) or faster linear motors.

    • @MetalheadAndNerd
      @MetalheadAndNerd 2 года назад +1

      We can hear from the non-increasing frequency of the "brrrrrr" that there is no increase in speed as the object moves along. This means something must be wrong.

  • @Roe124
    @Roe124 Год назад

    Love what you do man!!! Makes me even more motivated to finish my electrical engineering degree

  • @HesOracle
    @HesOracle 2 года назад

    you explaining it makes it seem so easy

  • @wilfredswinkels
    @wilfredswinkels 2 года назад +211

    Tom, have you considered the eddy currents generated by the moving magnets above the Al rail? Even at that distance it will cause some losses. Great Video (as always :-) CU in the next one.

    • @DaimyoD0
      @DaimyoD0 2 года назад +20

      Yeah I was also wondering if he spent any time tuning the configuration, so to speak. At least on video, he made it seem like he fabricated the first arrangement he thought of. But I imagine he could use experimentation to find the best location to place the Hall Effect sensor, to get as much acceleration from the electromagnet as possible. Too short a duration, and you're leaving potential acceleration on the table, too long, and the electromagnet will hold on to the sled for a moment and slow it down. There must be a sweet spot. He may have already used math or iterative design to find the sweet spot and just didn't include that in the video though.

    • @Abigail-hu5wf
      @Abigail-hu5wf 2 года назад +4

      @@DaimyoD0 If he moves the HE sensor too far back, it'll start to actuate when the PREVIOUS magnet is running, though. Which I suppose is the advantage of using Al guiderails.

    • @XYZY64
      @XYZY64 2 года назад +4

      I'm being simplistic. But while your coils are attracting the magnet sled, can you also detect the passing sled by each coil & reverse the DC polarity of the specific coil to REPEL the magnet sled to increase the acceleration of the sled?

    • @benjaminmiller3620
      @benjaminmiller3620 2 года назад +6

      @@XYZY64 Did you not watch to the end? That's his next design iteration.

    • @paulleimer1218
      @paulleimer1218 2 года назад +3

      The hardest part is switching that match Power quick enough. Also reversing the polarization of the coil has a pretty slow characteristic curve

  • @suhassubbanna
    @suhassubbanna 2 года назад +24

    A brilliant idea for the holidays. I’ll try to reverse the direction of the current repelling the magnet further.
    You could literally carry the whole setup in your back bag. I think it’ll be lots of fun with crazy engineers around me.

  • @coconutdiarynomonkeybusine3495
    @coconutdiarynomonkeybusine3495 2 года назад

    You broke quite a few railgun records. The first to launch of paper plane on a railgun.

  • @FaZuQ
    @FaZuQ Год назад +14

    You can shorten the rail by 2 times or leave it long (increase speed). By adding the function of changing polarity when the projectile leaves the coil

    • @_ruted
      @_ruted Год назад

      Thats what came across my mind too

    • @totallynotpaul6211
      @totallynotpaul6211 Год назад +3

      6:47 he quite literally says that in the video...

  • @PulsedPower
    @PulsedPower 2 года назад +14

    The real version (EMALS) made by General Atomics is a type of linear induction motor. So instead of pulling a permanent magnet armature like yours, they create an accelerating magnetic wave which accelerates an aluminum armature.
    Very cool demonstration!

    • @ikocheratcr
      @ikocheratcr 2 года назад +2

      Like an squirrel cage induction motor, nice.

  • @bungalo50
    @bungalo50 2 года назад +26

    I love how everyone knows it's a railgun without him having to say the word even once lol

    • @dsdy1205
      @dsdy1205 2 года назад +3

      but it isn't though

    • @mandernachluca3774
      @mandernachluca3774 2 года назад +1

      Except it isn't.
      His launcher isn't even close to what the navy trials for their aircraft launchers.
      They basically use induction to make use of the same effect as railguns do.
      He only uses reluctance, possibly the weakest form of coil launchers ...

    • @dsdy1205
      @dsdy1205 2 года назад

      @@lumi_project a chicken is a bird. a duck is a bird. a duck is not a chicken.

    • @mandernachluca3774
      @mandernachluca3774 2 года назад

      @@lumi_project
      Yes, but in the video, he specifically talks about induction launchers (aircraft carrier and roller coaster booster).
      However he himselfe did not make the destinction between reluctance force (what he uses) and induced lorenz force (what the "real world" examples use).

    • @Kwitzats
      @Kwitzats 2 года назад

      In a rail gun the is one loop of wire, in that the rails consists of the entirety of the circuit bridged by the sled. This device can be called many things but a rail gun is not one of them.

  • @impirikal8123
    @impirikal8123 2 года назад

    That hotdog slow-mo was exactly what I needed today! keep up the content!

  • @themorningstar3254
    @themorningstar3254 Год назад

    I imagined a model roller coaster using this design and you did it. AWESOME 3000!

  • @3DPrinterAcademy
    @3DPrinterAcademy 2 года назад +98

    Linear induction motors are insane!!

    • @fanman421
      @fanman421 2 года назад +6

      Just a minor Uhhhh there. This is not inducing current into the moving armature, therefore not an induction motor.

    • @jmikronis7376
      @jmikronis7376 2 года назад

      @@fanman421, you are correct.
      I don’t think today’s railguns operate in this fashion, as the projectile case is part of the motor in them. This is also why the gun doesn’t last long.

  • @ursa0607
    @ursa0607 2 года назад +103

    So now he has a Gauss Rifle. Sweet :)
    When are you launching your own spaceship? :D

    • @benholroyd5221
      @benholroyd5221 2 года назад

      It isn't a rifle. I'm not sure you'd want that if you're launching humans anyway.

    • @ursa0607
      @ursa0607 2 года назад

      @@benholroyd5221
      AFAIK the concept itself is called a Gauss Rifle, it does not have to be a weapon, just a mass driver that uses magnetic fields.
      As for launching humans, I have read that methods for orbital launch of cargo and people in this way are being investigated

    • @benholroyd5221
      @benholroyd5221 2 года назад +2

      @@ursa0607 I rifle imparts spin. This would just be a Gauss gun.

  • @JaydLawrence
    @JaydLawrence 2 года назад

    Great visualizations!

  • @bwest6275
    @bwest6275 2 года назад

    This was so cool, really amazing project!

  • @gmanshackshack6822
    @gmanshackshack6822 2 года назад +55

    increase the distance between the coils logarithmically... Also you'd think an optical sensor would be less prone to interference than a Hall effect sensor in such a magnetically noisy environment.

    • @perjohansson8099
      @perjohansson8099 2 года назад +2

      why?

    • @schwuzi
      @schwuzi 2 года назад +2

      @@perjohansson8099 WHY NOT?!

    • @johanngambolputty5351
      @johanngambolputty5351 2 года назад +9

      @@perjohansson8099 Complete guess, but as it moves faster, it would spend less time near each coil in the linear arangement

    • @gmanshackshack6822
      @gmanshackshack6822 2 года назад +6

      @@perjohansson8099 - to perhaps match the acceleration curve a little better

    • @lkytmryan
      @lkytmryan 2 года назад +1

      @@perjohansson8099 The optical sensor wouldn't be affected at all but I don't know to what extent the hall effect sensors are a problem but they are affected,

  • @eo3380
    @eo3380 2 года назад +19

    You might want to consider spacing out the coils progressively, and making them longer as they stretch further out!
    A similar thing is done with linear particle accelerators, where the accelerating electrodes become longer and longer so the particle is affected by them for the same amount of time as it accelerates:
    link to article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_particle_accelerator

  • @azazzelx
    @azazzelx 2 года назад +1

    lovely sight for a project

  • @Dave64track
    @Dave64track 2 года назад

    Thats a great project brilliant launcher.

  • @Originus1
    @Originus1 2 года назад +324

    Hey Tom,
    did you checked how good you timed the coils? E.g. with your slow motion camera and an led per coil to show if its active? Since magnets are extremely strong close by, hitting the perfect spot to turn the spoils off seems very important.

    • @arantala
      @arantala 2 года назад +55

      It's worth noting that the timing might also be different depending on the speed of the projectile, so the coils at the start of the rail might need different timing from the ones near the end. If this is the case, then the mass of the projectile will also affect the timing, especially farther along the track.

    • @kke
      @kke 2 года назад +8

      @@arantala Perhaps optical sensors.

    • @isleguard
      @isleguard 2 года назад +21

      One more thought, put a diode across the coils to help reduce the voltage during the collapse of the magnetic field after the voltage is turned off....you should also measure the timing between the collapse of the magnetic field and the start of the next power-on cycle of the next coil to appropriately space out the coils to maximize the velocity.

    • @shadowlord0162
      @shadowlord0162 2 года назад

      thats actually really smart

    • @jessicacon
      @jessicacon Год назад

      work on your grammar man

  • @astrowanabe
    @astrowanabe 2 года назад +118

    The first thing I thought of was using some sort of flip-flop and a second MOSFET per coil to reverse polarity as the sled passes. Also some sort of bearing for the sled (almost anything really). Glad you're going to be revising and improving! Looks cool!

    • @mr1enrollment
      @mr1enrollment 2 года назад +6

      H-bridge is the standard ticket.

  • @kounkieinc3714
    @kounkieinc3714 2 года назад

    I love the way you can explain it so easily never subscribed so fast

  • @loganofnorth880
    @loganofnorth880 2 года назад

    Probably your best vid yet!

  • @yaminsiddiqui4690
    @yaminsiddiqui4690 2 года назад +6

    5:01 Tom.exe is not responding.

  • @Qui-9
    @Qui-9 2 года назад +22

    This is awesome! However I feel that once the magnet reaches a certain speed, which isn't far above that created by the first coil, the other coils have a much reduced contribution due to "back EMF" limiting the current drawn by them. What you need is a constant current driver for all the coils, using a high frequency switching power supply for efficiency, and a higher voltage supply, to force that current through the coils the sled is passing quickly. Or you could set up progressive banks of the coils supplied by higher voltage than the prior ones, though you definitely should make sure the sled doesn't get stuck, or that they still have the current-limiting failsafe.
    I hope I explained that we'll enough to visualize, I have a different, more electronic background.
    Cheers! 🍻

    • @greenaum
      @greenaum 2 года назад +1

      I dunno, constant current implies higher and higher voltages for the later coils, and he's running it off a bank of supercaps, or megacaps or whatever they are. They only go up to something like 2.7 volts. I see your point though. Perhaps wiring later coils with thicker wire and fewer turns, so higher current that way? But then magnetic field is a function of the turns. There's surely some sweet spot somewhere but beyond me to think what it is. Perhaps just thicker wire, same turns, bigger spool, would be the right way.

    • @Qui-9
      @Qui-9 2 года назад

      @@greenaum yes you're right. You'd effectively add the 2.7V to whatever back EMF to get constant current, so yea, you couldn't do that with just these caps, that's the caveat. I agree with you 100% that to achieve a similar function would be to alter the coils instead of the voltage, it would just be a different E & I relationship.

  • @donduck1176
    @donduck1176 2 года назад

    Instantly one of my favorite posts on yt. Thanks Tom.

  • @omarh1881
    @omarh1881 2 года назад

    I really enjoy watching your channel, thank you

  • @TRabbit1970
    @TRabbit1970 2 года назад +9

    If you decelerate the sled at the end, you can recover some of the energy you used to accelerate it in the first place. Check out the energy required, and it opens up some cool ideals for reducing fuel requirements for launching aircraft and rockets.

  • @ruthjoy7147
    @ruthjoy7147 2 года назад +4

    well done😁 you made a electro magnetic rail gun 4:00

  • @hilariodaragona4473
    @hilariodaragona4473 2 года назад +4

    The part that begins at 5:52 is the best!

  • @ashton7981
    @ashton7981 2 месяца назад

    Linear induction motors are also used on the Skytrain (Vancouver's light rail system). So thousands of people use rails guns to get to from work everyday

  • @ToddTevlin
    @ToddTevlin 2 года назад +32

    I love that the slow mo capture also caught a bee in the background flying parallel to the fence at 6:42.

  • @sebastianuhl
    @sebastianuhl 2 года назад +9

    Great project! Maybe put a led parallel to the coil so we can see in the slow-mo when it gets activated and when it shuts of. Could be helpful to tune the timing too

  • @thegreentv574
    @thegreentv574 2 года назад

    Absolutely brilliant love this channel great video

  • @gasturman
    @gasturman 2 года назад

    More of this please!!! Nice work!

  • @idriwzrd
    @idriwzrd 2 года назад +18

    I'm a little surprised you didn't make a self-releasing hook to tow the plane from the nose for better takeoff/flight performance.

  • @dariodalcin5177
    @dariodalcin5177 2 года назад +12

    Trying to get the coil current to zero instantly is gonna probably fry the mosfets in the long run

    • @The007dinosaur
      @The007dinosaur 2 года назад +1

      Yup, deffo, but might be worth looking at how bidirectional ESCs for quadcopters handle that same problem? There must be some good ways of mitigating it

    • @danl6634
      @danl6634 2 года назад

      ESC circuits often both switch a little late when there is some back EMF to keep the current down, and they can shunt the excess current to the next set of coils too. But they're mostly designed to dissipate the heat, and they can put out a lot of heat for big ones.

    • @kitesforfuture577
      @kitesforfuture577 2 года назад

      with 4 mosfets per coil (pointing in and out at both ends of the coil) you can control the current direction. and using the internal diodes of the mosfets and leaving one mosfet still ON, you can ensure that current can continue flowing in a circle through the coil.

    • @TomOConnor-BlobOpera
      @TomOConnor-BlobOpera 2 года назад

      Eh. Mosfets are cheap. Let em fry!

  • @bzqp2
    @bzqp2 Год назад

    The airplane shots were amazing.

  • @Karmai9
    @Karmai9 Год назад +2

    4:44 I swear this is an act of war

  • @pvt.dicksimmons2225
    @pvt.dicksimmons2225 2 года назад +90

    "I made a paper airplane launcher"
    Shut up Tom, that's a coil gun.

    • @titanfallgamerwithnotitanf8187
      @titanfallgamerwithnotitanf8187 2 года назад +3

      RUclips doesn't like the word "gun" so that's a reason

    • @luthfiabraham
      @luthfiabraham 2 года назад

      Noooo … he is just testing high speed on/off mosfet:p

    • @kyletaylor9212
      @kyletaylor9212 2 года назад +1

      more of a gauss rifle than a coil gun has it has sets of two coils instead of singular coils

    • @giin97
      @giin97 2 года назад

      @@kyletaylor9212 gauss gun and coil gun are two names for the same thing...

    • @drakenkoren5885
      @drakenkoren5885 2 года назад

      Leonard of Quirm

  • @pyrokinetikrlz
    @pyrokinetikrlz 2 года назад +46

    I would guess this setup is quite sensitive to the synchronization of the coils. If the next coil is turning on too slow, the payload will pass by before experiencing any additional force

    • @grimfpv292
      @grimfpv292 2 года назад +6

      I would increase the distance between the coils further down, so the magnets get more time to switch on.

    • @sgo9004
      @sgo9004 2 года назад +4

      @@grimfpv292 And pull the hall sensors back further too to trigger the coil earlier.

    • @jmikronis7376
      @jmikronis7376 2 года назад +1

      This is a thing for design engineers to solve.

    • @BarryAllen-no9nj
      @BarryAllen-no9nj 2 года назад +1

      @@grimfpv292mosfets can switch on and off at speeds above 50kHz. This thing is way to slow for you to even consider increasing the spacing.

    • @grimfpv292
      @grimfpv292 2 года назад +2

      @@BarryAllen-no9nj It's not the MOSFET timing I'm concerned about, it is the time it takes for a coil to induce a magnetic field.

  • @isaaclux2128
    @isaaclux2128 2 года назад +6

    When you make Mk.2 of this you should make a spring stopper to catch the sled. Maybe you could even create a magnetic levitating sled for low friction.

    • @muhammedshamiltp9143
      @muhammedshamiltp9143 2 года назад

      If you make a make a magnetic levitated sled, wouldn't it interfere with the magnetic field of the coil?

  • @rogerramjet9876
    @rogerramjet9876 2 года назад

    Nice Job Mate !
    A brilliant layman's 👏 description ideal for training

  • @Pietro_Troschka
    @Pietro_Troschka 2 года назад +26

    It would be interesting to put that in a loop, I wonder what the max speed would be

    • @Shreyam_io
      @Shreyam_io 2 года назад +4

      i woud guess ,if you neglect the friction only thing is mosfet switching speed that is the limit

    • @LordDragox412
      @LordDragox412 2 года назад +1

      @@Shreyam_io Mmm, I love the smell of toasty mosfets!

    • @robinsparrow1618
      @robinsparrow1618 2 года назад +13

      that's just a regular motor with extra steps

    • @danl6634
      @danl6634 2 года назад +1

      I'd bet it's more likely the current/time relationship of the coils that can't turn on/ of instantly would be the limiting factor. MOSFETs can switch pretty darn fast, but the coils can't change current instantly.

    • @kathrynelrod5570
      @kathrynelrod5570 2 года назад +4

      you’ve invented a motor

  • @BENZ007
    @BENZ007 2 года назад +91

    Great work. 👍

  • @CoIocho
    @CoIocho 2 года назад

    Excellent content, keep it up!

  • @coopersayers3852
    @coopersayers3852 Год назад

    THANK YOU FOR USING MY HOME PARK LAUNCH COASTER AS THE EXAMPLE. FINALLY KENNYWOOD IS REALIZED!

  • @boredgrass
    @boredgrass 2 года назад +5

    It is always something special to make a plane fly! This video made me wonder if the paper plane folding experts among your viewers might not have ideas for models that are able to remain longer in the sled, i.e get a greater acceleration.

  • @lonewolfsstuck
    @lonewolfsstuck 2 года назад +70

    In this episode of "Tom Stanton invents stuff" He makes a railgun!

    • @seanfager8063
      @seanfager8063 2 года назад +22

      Almost! A railgun has the thing being propelled as part of the electrical circuit. The slug closes the connection between the two rails at 90degrees from each, so there's three magnetic fields being made by the same electrical circuit. All three fields are generated simultaneously in series (series in the electrical sense, not the chronological one). The interaction between those three fields is what drives the electromagnetic slug down the rails.
      This is a gauss gun. The big advantage is being scalable without electrically welding your slug to the rails once you reach a certain amperage.

    • @SpiderPig7240
      @SpiderPig7240 2 года назад +10

      Rail guns actually work by a slightly different principle to this (it's pretty interesting and I highly suggest you look it up). What Tom's built is more similar to a coil gun I believe. Although a typical coil gun usually has the projectile travel through the middle of the coils tho so this is still pretty unique

    • @Sekir80
      @Sekir80 2 года назад

      it's a coilgun.

    • @paulgray1318
      @paulgray1318 2 года назад +1

      No no, it's part 1 of his model of Cern.
      :)

  • @itsmesalty20
    @itsmesalty20 2 года назад

    nice shot with the fly in the background at 6:42 badass

  • @Bone_Incidents
    @Bone_Incidents 2 года назад +1

    This is the only video that makes electronic magnets make sense to me

  • @mmhmnms
    @mmhmnms 2 года назад +4

    I've watched this 3 times today and every time I'm still impressed by your smooth segue into the sponsored content

  • @mr1enrollment
    @mr1enrollment 2 года назад +54

    Tom: I suspect that if you also complete the magnetic circuit, (possibly by a 'C' loop of steel under each magnet pair), your total flux density will increase. Fun project BTW.

    • @jackmclane1826
      @jackmclane1826 2 года назад +3

      True. But it will also increase the inductance of the coil and will reduce the speed the current rises... this can backfire!

    • @mr1enrollment
      @mr1enrollment 2 года назад +3

      @@jackmclane1826 that is correct. and that is what calculation and/or testing will reveal.
      considering that the gap is mostly open with a high reluctance - the increase in inductance may not be a problem. I have not designed such a system, so I am going on intuition. (that also can back fire) note also as a for instance: stepper motors, or servos do have relatively tight magnetic circuits with very small gaps. they seem to work. and yes this is all hand waving. a real motors dude would probably be able to say yes or no with more accuracy. but anyway i'll stand with my first comment. being wrong is not a big deal, it is a way to learn.

    • @jackmclane1826
      @jackmclane1826 2 года назад +2

      @@mr1enrollment I'd also try it... the idea is good, but I don't have a clear gut feeling for it right now. It leans towards that switching speed in the end is crucial when you want to really launch something. Not when you want to launch a paper plane at a couple of meters per second, of course... ;) It could even come to the point that an iron core is detrimental due to HF losses. (Thought of it: When you want to launch something at 100m/s that means switching speed in the kHz range is necessary. Don't get close to it with any iron. Maybe a stack of very thin sheets may work. But with massive iron you just make an induction heater and no coil gun... ;) )
      My first change would be to invert polarity of the coil when the magnet has passed to push it away. This can also backfire into magic smoke when done wrong... ;) This would effectively half the time that is available for current rise.
      Very interesting device. I think I put one of these setups on my own experiment list. ;) My first guess would be to move to a lower impedance setting. Thicker wire, less windings but more current meaning lower inductance as no. of windings go squared into inductance.

    • @mr1enrollment
      @mr1enrollment 2 года назад

      @@jackmclane1826 let me know when your video is up

    • @jackmclane1826
      @jackmclane1826 2 года назад

      @@mr1enrollment I'm not making videos. I'm not allowed to film where I do that kind of nonsense... (and I'm not too keen on publicity).

  • @superduperbooper3987
    @superduperbooper3987 2 года назад

    0:15 HECK YEAH! KENNYWOOD! Also the MOSFET is also know as a transistor and is opened a small amount of amperage, not voltage. Although, voltage is still needed to push amperage through a wire.

  • @coreyepis3303
    @coreyepis3303 2 года назад

    From 6:41 - 6:48 you captured a fly or a bug of some sort in your slow motion footage, just above the bottom rail in your deck. You can see each individual wing beat and even It's shadow on the deck. I thought that was pretty cool, what are the chances of that! Dropped a sub for this epic footage and awesome inventions, keep it up Tom!

  • @c567591
    @c567591 2 года назад +7

    Some thoughts: You might be able to get more acceleration with different timings, also having 1 or 2 ahead of the sled on may have some boost as well. If you put some optical sensors across rail at the end and a U shaped thing for the sensors a bit out from the end that the opto sensors can give a real time speed indication.

  • @_WaitingInTheSky_
    @_WaitingInTheSky_ 2 года назад +21

    I also thought reversing the polarity of the coils the moment the sled passes them would double the speed😅 But apparently you were faster👌

    • @seskalarafey9285
      @seskalarafey9285 2 года назад +1

      But the time to Shut on/Off the coils is getting shorter because of the increased speed. Is there a Limit on the On/Off function on the controllers?

    • @jakegarrett8109
      @jakegarrett8109 2 года назад

      @@seskalarafey9285 Even if the controller is infinitely fast you still have less and less time, so the impulse might stay the same but the total energy is still only fractions of a second, and the faster you accelerate it the less time you have to accelerate it meaning the "barrel length" or coil count starts diminishing. So you definitely want to do that to get the most out of the system, but even with theoretically instant controller you're not going to get double the speed but you still get an improvement without increasing size or coil count.
      I think most mosfets are in the millionth of a second on/off time, but if ;you're using an H-bridge to drive it then you'll have more latency, still though, a proper controller for this should be insanely fast and let you get 95% of the theoretical limit out of it. Biggest improvement would be how he detects the object as you'll want to play with those positions in case of latency in the system.

    • @jmikronis7376
      @jmikronis7376 2 года назад

      @@jakegarrett8109, a solution to be solved by electrical engineers.

    • @jakegarrett8109
      @jakegarrett8109 2 года назад

      @@jmikronis7376 it's more laws of physics. They can make the controllers switch near infinitely fast, but we also are mostly limited by the strength of whatever the coils can handle and the time they can impart force to the object. I think it becomes more of a mechanical design challenge than anything, because now we need a better design than just a linear rail: something like a looping track in the rear so it can pre-accelerate it making several loops before entering the straight track. Or we may just end up using a spinning sling arm etc.
      Also I didn't list other unfortunate physics effects such as Eddy currents and effects of fast moving magnets next to coils which is really more of a materials engineer design problem.

  • @crazynedry5085
    @crazynedry5085 2 года назад

    Thats a really cool railgun :)

  • @SupremacyBTD
    @SupremacyBTD 2 года назад

    Really cool project

  • @tegensmith4769
    @tegensmith4769 2 года назад +5

    finally, my day is made.

    • @omo708
      @omo708 2 года назад

      Bro🥲

    • @mohammedalshrief532
      @mohammedalshrief532 2 года назад

      Machine learning pid power full iron stationruclips.net/video/KXNRlJPkWIkc/видео.htmlsed24

  • @haydonwolfe7536
    @haydonwolfe7536 2 года назад +3

    0:21 Hey thats Kennywood!! Where’s my 412 gang at!

  • @codycampbell1147
    @codycampbell1147 2 года назад

    this is my first video of yours ive watched but after watching it you gained one more subscriber for life

  • @metamud8686
    @metamud8686 2 года назад

    6:41 that fly in the background near the bottom fence rail though!!

  • @Jayderzomb
    @Jayderzomb 2 года назад +5

    Now build a smaller version on a rc plane carrier, that can launch a mini rc plane ✈️. That would be amazing I think, but great video loved it!

  • @UncleManuel
    @UncleManuel 2 года назад +9

    U.S. Navy: "We build railguns to shoot bad guys."
    Tom Stanton: "We build railguns to launch household items. For our amusement and all the giggles." 😁😁😁

    • @Dragonno96
      @Dragonno96 2 года назад

      Its not quite a railgun though, its a coil gun. Coilguns magnetically attract the projectile, and railguns repel the projectile via the Lorentz force (which requires current running though the projectile)

    • @ninjafruitchilled
      @ninjafruitchilled 2 года назад +1

      If Tom's next version can launch a 3kg slug to Mach 10 then it's going to be an amazing video.

  • @carlnapp4412
    @carlnapp4412 2 года назад

    6:42 That fly was so glad that she could make it.

  • @silverywingsagain
    @silverywingsagain 2 года назад +16

    I've been working on a circuit like this for a while and i think it can be done without the hall effect sensors. If you use each coil as an analog input for a microcontroller, you will get an induced voltage on the input as the bullet/sled approaches the coil. As soon as you do, switch it to an output and apply current through a mosfet for a fixed period, then switch back to input. Repeat for each coil. This would give you the ability to launch ferromagnetic metals as well as magnets.

    • @bharattanwar5047
      @bharattanwar5047 2 года назад +1

      So, bro did u complete yours.

    • @silverywingsagain
      @silverywingsagain 2 года назад +1

      @@bharattanwar5047 No, I work on a lot of circuits in simulation on and off. I'd like to build it but it's not my top project. I have had a think about it though, and Ive decided that a hybrid approach might be good to start, both a microcontroller with some SPI ADCs and hall effect sensors so that I can get a timing curve for how the coils are triggered. Then the hall effect sensors could be disabled and the known timings could be used. Having that data would let you make some very fine adjustments to the mechanism.

    • @bharattanwar5047
      @bharattanwar5047 2 года назад +1

      @@silverywingsagain i am not able to understand electrical circuit because Tom didn't explain it. That's why i asked u 😅.