Magnetic Accelerator Cannon By Omar Aboueljoud Alberto Bird Wesley Lima Eric Shields Group 10 University of Central Florida Senior Design Project Documentation EEL 4915 Summer 2014 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon ii | P a g e Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary ....................................................................................... 1 2.0 Project Description ......................................................................................... 3 2.1 Project Motivation and Goals ...................................................................... 3 2.2 Objectives ................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Project Requirements and Specifications.................................................... 5 3.0 Research ........................................................................................................ 6 3.1 Existing Similar Projects and Products........................................................ 6 3.1.1 The Methodology for Selecting an Electromagnetic Gun System ......... 6 3.1.2 Operational Requirements and Issues for Coilgun Electromagnetic Launchers ...................................................................................................... 8 3.1.3 Analysis of Inductive Coilgun Performance based on Field Coupling Circuit Method.............................................................................................. 10 3.1.4 Inductance Calculations ...................................................................... 10 3.1.5 Coilguns.info ....................................................................................... 13 3.1.6 UCF Senior Design (Spring „12) Nail Coil Gun ................................... 14 3.1.7 Coil Gun with Targeting System ......................................................... 16 3.2 Relevant Technologies.............................................................................. 26 3.2.1 AC to DC Power Supply ..................................................................... 26 3.2.2 Capacitor Bank ................................................................................... 27 3.3 Strategic Components............................................................................... 29 3.3.1 Energy Storage Components .............................................................. 30 3.3.2 Switches ............................................................................................. 35 3.3.3 Coils .................................................................................................... 37 3.3.4 Sensors............................................................................................... 38 3.3.5 Power Supply ...................................................................................... 39 3.3.6 Rangefinder ........................................................................................ 41 3.3.7 Processor ............................................................................................ 42 3.4 Possible Architectures and Related Diagrams .......................................... 43 3.5 Simulation ................................................................................................. 47 4.0 Hardware and Software Design Details ........................................................ 49 4.1 Initial Design Architectures and Related Diagrams ................................... 49 4.1.1 Mission Profile .................................................................................... 52 4.2 Power Supply ............................................................................................ 53 Group 10 Senior Design Project Documentation P a g e | iii 4.3 Energy Storage ......................................................................................... 56 4.4 Switching ................................................................................................... 69 4.4.1 Sensors ............................................................................................... 69 4.4.2 Switches .............................................................................................. 71 4.5 User Interface and Control ........................................................................ 72 4.5.1 User Interface ..................................................................................... 72 4.5.2 Switch Control ..................................................................................... 78 4.5.3 Rangefinder ........................................................................................ 79 4.5.4 Camera ............................................................................................... 80 4.5.5 Microcontroller .................................................................................... 80 4.5.6 Printed Circuit Board ........................................................................... 83 4.6 Barrel ......................................................................................................... 84 4.6.1 Projectile ............................................................................................. 85 4.6.2 Coils .................................................................................................... 87 4.7 Packaging ................................................................................................. 95 4.7.1 Projectile loader .................................................................................. 95 4.7.2 Stand ................................................................................................... 98 5.0 Design Summary of Hardware and Software .............................................. 101 5.1 Power Supply .......................................................................................... 101 5.2 Energy Storage ....................................................................................... 103 5.3 Control and UI ......................................................................................... 106 5.4 Barrel ....................................................................................................... 108 5.5 Packaging ............................................................................................... 110 6.0 Project Prototype Construction and Coding ................................................ 113 6.1 Software .................................................................................................. 113 6.1.1 UI Coding Plan .................................................................................. 113 6.1.2 Launch Sequence Coding Plan ......................................................... 116 6.2 Hardware ................................................................................................. 117 6.2.1 Capacitor Bank ................................................................................. 117 6.2.2 Power Supply .................................................................................... 117 6.2.4 Coil Winding ...................................................................................... 120 6.2.5 Coil Mounting .................................................................................... 121 6.2.6 Sensor Mounting ............................................................................... 121 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon iv | P a g e 6.2.7 Projectile Manufacturing ................................................................... 122 6.2.8 Projectile Loader ............................................................................... 122 7.0 Project Prototype Testing ........................................................................... 123 7.1 Safety ...................................................................................................... 123 7.1.1 Location ............................................................................................ 124 7.1.2 Individual Coil Tuning ....................................................................... 124 7.2 Projectile Sink ......................................................................................... 125 7.4 Range Testing ......................................................................................... 125 7.5 User Interface Testing ............................................................................. 126 7.6 Power and Charging ............................................................................... 128 8.0 Administrative Content ............................................................................... 129 8.1 Parts Lists and Budget ............................................................................ 129 8.2 Timeline .................................................................................................. 135 Appendices ........................................................................................................... I Appendix A – Copyright Permissions ................................................................. I Appendix B – References ................................................................................ IV Appendix C – Simulator Source code .............................................................. VI Group 10 Senior Design Project Documentation P a g e | 1 1.0 Executive Summary The development of projectile launchers with chemically propelled projectiles reached a plateau more than seventy years ago. Since then only marginal improvements have been made. Most of those improvements that have been made come