As electronics required to make such instruments are increasingly accessible, railguns are becoming more common to encounter outside the virtual world. Check out this 3D printed one made by YouTuber and DIY electronics enthusiast xtamared.

This railgun is relatively huge as compared to the conventional models available in the market, but its effectiveness is no less. Armed with these six capacitors weighing 20 pounds, the gun (dubbed the WXPR-1 by its creator) delivers about 1050 volts and 1.8 kilojoules of energy to the projectile inside the gun. This machine is powerful enough to vaporise a carbon projectile. The six capacitors are held together at the bottom of the gun in groups of two, within 3D frames.

The gun’s electronics are controlled by an Arduino Uno R3, which monitors the levels of the electronic components — including the capacitor voltage, the amperage, the temperature, and battery voltage. The entire unit is powered by a 12V lithium-polymer battery that’s stepped up to 1050V using a micro-inverter and a transformer. It fires a variety of metal armatures, such as copper-plated tungsten, aluminum, carbon, and Teflon/plasma.

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xtamared describes how he had to do a ton of research. Using information from PhysicsThings micro-railgun and Sam Barros’ Powerless railgun design, it took six months for him to fine tune the electronics, six months to machine the rails, and another six months for the 3D printing, remaining design, and final assembly. A total of about a year and half of work can be seen in the vid above in all its glory.

Author:Technology Blog