Transcript for:
Electromagnetic Railgun Project Overview

Hey guys in case you didn't know the US Navy has been developing an electromagnetic railgun for the past decade and it's absolutely incredible It's a highly futuristic weapon that seems straight out of science fiction Using only electricity, it can accelerate a projectile to speeds of Mach 6. That's over 7400 km/h! Plus it has a range of over a hundred and sixty kilometers! If you guys want more information on that railgun check out the link in the description below Anyway World of Warships approached us and offered to sponsor a project based on their game Naturally, we suggested building a small-scale version of the Navy's railgun. World of Warships is the perfect balance between action and strategic gameplay. Plus if you use my link in the description below and are one of the first 300 viewers to use it you'll get an awesome bonus, which will give you a huge head start in the game But more on that later, in the meantime, let's start building a railgun Alright, so before we build a railgun, Let's talk about how a railgun actually works You see a railgun converts electrical power into kinetic energy by creating a magnetic field that can accelerate a projectile Here's the diagram showing how that works Now, the factor that determines how powerful a railgun is, is how much current you can push through those rails For a more detailed explanation on how rail guns work I'd recommend checking out electrogoBoom's video right here So the question is how do we build a power supply that can provide enough current to make a powerful railgun? Most of the time we use lithium polymer batteries for our projects and that's because they have some of the highest energy densities available in battery form, the problem is they can't actually put out that much current. For that you need a capacitor which can discharge huge amounts of current in a really short amount of time. In fact, we've already had a lot of fun with these capacitors with Thor's hammer! Ian: how to place a capacitor inside of Thor's hammer And it fits pretty good. That's loud! As you can see it packs quite a punch Now one capacitor isn't enough. We're going to use 16 Thats big! How heavy is this? So you discharged it right? All right you one upped me over the flamethrower To start you have to turn the pressure on low, and we should probably go downstairs. Now crank it Okay, first test of this charging circuit Oh, I think my fuse blew Whatcha doin there Bogdan? Bogdan: Alright, so we are going to test how long its going to take for this charger to charge up our capacitor bank. Get some safety glasses, some hearing protection too because we have to discharge it afterwards. Get some safety glasses, some hearing protection too because we have to discharge it afterwards. We're gonna see how long its gonna take And we are gonna double check that the step-down works as well to make sure we can actually measure the voltage on the bank without blowing up every single multi meter we have. on the bank without blowing up every single multi meter we have. including this one Okay, do you want a welding mask you sure? Okay you ready Now that's a tenth of the voltage so that's actually forty volts right now fifty volts sixty volts seventy Now that's a tenth of the voltage so that's actually forty volts right now fifty volts sixty volts seventy Bogdan: Cuz it's black it matches the Hacksmith. James: It's not black that is grey. Bogdan: It's a lot better than blue 313 volts big hair pulls me back I Can i just stopp being the host and just become this camera guy? It's so much more fun Okay, it does seem to be charging a little slowly Okay, it does seem to be charging a little slowly Ah Geez I missed we need a wood stick That was sweet! Its still 212 volts. Mmmm. We are getting alzheimers Atomized aluminum great for the brain about two minutes to charge? Atomized aluminum great for the brain about two minutes to charge? Now I'm not a machinist by any means and this is my first time using a CNC lathe So let's just hit go and see what happens All right, so you might be wondering Just put this in between the rails and turn the capacitor bank on, it would literally weld itself shut it needs to have a little Speed at the beginning as it's entering the rails, so we've taken this Speed at the beginning as it's entering the rails, so we've taken this It is fast enough to make sure this projectile doesn't weld itself in place G-4 Hit D-4 No! You sunk my battleship, you'll pay Safety... G-5! Safety... I'd like to thank our sponsor World of Warships as you can imagine Miss I'd like to thank our sponsor World of Warships as you can imagine This is a rather expensive build and we had to outsource quite a few components which cost quite a bit of money iconic war vessels including the USS Indianapolis World of warships is a huge multiplayer game with over seven million players you can command a massive naval fleet featuring some of history's most iconic war vessels including the USS Indianapolis Which make each battle unique and the tactics you use with constant updates every week this game is ever-evolving and quite honestly really amazing Game is highly detailed including changing weather effects Which make each battle unique and the tactics you use with constant updates every week this game is ever-evolving and quite honestly really amazing Apparently it takes the developers around six months to introduce a new vessel into the game Plus if you're one of the first 300 viewers to sign up you'll get an awesome bonus of two hundred fifty doubloons, 1 million credits the HMS Campbeltown and so much more! Now let's test out our very own railgun! Plus if you're one of the first 300 viewers to sign up you'll get an awesome bonus of two hundred fifty doubloons, 152 unbelievable, come on James get some accuracy. Everyone behind your ballistic shields that don't exist? Well that was cool, it's not loaded right? You're not gonna hit me? Cool. Pointy Oh that was incinerated But it looked cool, and it broke the plate Well that was cool, it's not loaded right? You're not gonna hit me? Cool. Pointy So it's actually got an artillery shell and then a casing which would get all this damage to it that actually flies off of it But it looked cool, and it broke the plate Its fine, give er before it blows up Mmm toasty it doesn't work, fire power! Dave: This needs to be recharged. And it propels the projectile forwards 220 Volts, that can't be good 230 actually. Like it works pretty well last shot Mmm toasty it doesn't work, fire power! Dave: This needs to be recharged. How does it look in slow mo? It's doing the railgun thing. It's actually being a railgun! Yeah, try depressing the pin. Yeah, that's locked in 230 actually. Like it works pretty well last shot Watch this gonna, it's gonna do the zappy thing again. Its gonna go WHAM! You're not gonna expect it James 160! 180! Riley: What are we going up to? James: 200! Riley: What do you mean you don't know, you know when to stop Well it landed directly in the middle of the plate Bon Appetit 240! Stopping at 261, all cameras ready? Is that one rolling? You're not gonna expect it James 160! King Henry the eighth's first wife. What What everything does on the railgun so let's go through the system First, we have the main power switch down here on and off, and then we have a three position power switch up here plus Where is it oh there it is? Which tells us the charge of the capacitor bank so when the switch is in the middle position its neutral It's not doing anything and it's ready to be fired. To charge it, simply push the switch forwards and as you can see the voltmeter starts What everything does on the railgun so let's go through the system First, we have the main power switch down here on and off, and then we have a three position power switch up here plus We have a little voltmeter Which tells us the charge of the capacitor bank so when the switch is in the middle position its neutral It's not doing anything and it's ready to be fired. To charge it, simply push the switch forwards and as you can see the voltmeter starts Considering it can go up to 400 volts and will put out thousands and thousands of amps Which is certainly enough to kill you We're going to stop it right there at about a hundred and thirty volts Now the reverse position actually drained through these resistors Because it's actually very dangerous 220 230 Woooo, ow my ear! Mah mah Anyone see where that arced? Always wear PPE, unlike us. Well we hope you guys enjoyed the video this has been a project that lot of you guys have been asking for for a long time so it's awesome to check it off that long bucket list of projects we wanted to complete. Now, you might be wondering It didn't seem that powerful and to be honest that's because we did actually have to constrain Woooo, ow my ear! Mah mah Anyone see where that arced? Always wear PPE, unlike us. Well we hope you guys enjoyed the video this has been a project that lot of you guys have been asking for for a long time so it's awesome to check it off that long bucket list of projects we wanted to complete. Now, you might be wondering It didn't seem that powerful and to be honest that's because we did actually have to constrain the design to limit the firepower of the railgun to make sure it fell into the classification of an airgun and not an actual firearm. And thats because in Canada we have strict gun control, Which means we didn't want to make an illegal firearm because making a video isn't worth going to jail over Or is it No no It's not But, if you guys want to see more big projects like this, make sure you support our sponsors like this videos sponsor, World of Warships, check out the link in the description below for some awesome bonuses. Plus, if you guys want to own a part of this project, we are gonna auction off a few of these projectiles on eBay, check out the link in the description below, bids start at just $1. Thanks for watching!