Pneumatic Rocket Man

Here’s a fun May the 4th be with you project… A pneumatically powered Boba Fett jetpack-launching-mannequin!

[Rodger Cleye], best known for his crazy quadrotor projects, wanted to try experimenting with pneumatic power for a change. He managed to obtain a fire extinguisher which he’s routed through a home-made PVC air delivery system on the back of his faithful test dummy — this time decked out in a complete [Boba Fett] costume.

He’s using a solenoid actuated sprinkler valve to release the pressure which is controlled using an N-FET. An AVR microcontroller sends a 500mS pulse to trigger it, and also handles the remote-controlled launch pad which you can drive around to position [Boba] for the best flight. The solenoid valve is 1″ stepped down to a 1/2″ connection ported into [Boba’s] spine which has a 3/4″ sleeve, acting like a pneumatic piston.  Just for fun he’s even included a Boba-CAM to capture the 25+ foot launch from the poor mannequin’s perspective!

[via Hacked Gadgets]

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