Project overview

Below is a brief overview of this particular coilgun project. If you would like to know more details about any of the following subjects, please use the navigation menu on the left.



The coilgun

My largest project so far is a single stage coilgun, tested with a capacitor bank rated for 1.944 kJ. For all intents and purposes, this coilgun will be referred to as the 2 kilojoule coilgun, since I am planning on building a larger one in the near future.

The power supply

Since high voltage power supplies are prohibitively expensive for a hobby project, I had to build my own. The power supply can charge a capacitor bank anywhere from 24 to 440 volts. The charger limits itself to 440 for safety. Not only does the charger have to convert from 24 VDC to 440 VDC, another serious challenge was to do this in a reasonable amount of time.

The velocity detector

As an electrical engineer, I want actual, quantifiable data. You should too! In order to evaluate the performance an optimize a coilgun, it is absolutely necessary that you have some sort of speed detector. Without a method to determine the projectile speed, it is impossible to correctly evaluate, fine tune, and optimize your coilgun. There are several methods you can use to detect the projectile speed, and this website will introduce some of the more common methods, along with pictures and schematics.

Results

No coilgun website is complete without results! You will find very detailed results of my coilgun using a variety of different capacitor bank and coil configurations.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Coilgun projects can be extremely dangerous if you don't know what your doing. Capacitors can unleash massive amounts of electricity which can seriously injure or kill. Please use this information with caution, as I can not be held responsible for your actions.