One thing 3D printers excel at is being able to easily create objects that would be daunting by other methods, something that also allows for rapid design iteration. That’s apparent in [Canino]’s palm-sized, gatling-style, motorized 32-elastic launcher.
The cannon has a rotary barrel driven by a small motor, and a clever sear design uses the rotation of the barrels like a worm gear. The rotating barrel has a spiral formation of hooks which anchor the stretched elastic bands. A small ramp rides that spiral gap, lifting ends of stretched bands one at a time as the assembly turns. This movement (and therefore the firing control) is done with a small continuous rotation servo. While in theory any motor would do, using a servo has the advantage of being a standardized shape, and therefore easy to integrate into the design. A video is embedded below in which you can see it work, along with some close-ups of the action.
An elastic band shooter is a common use of the rubbery rings, but we have seen some pretty unusual applications that have nothing to do with their intended use as a sort of fastener. For example, wide elastic bands form the shades in this unusual lamp design which is worth a look just to see how it all turned out.
should have just used string wound around the drum instead of the arm as it would do the same thing and simplified the design
I think it really simplified loading the gun, string would have much more of a hassle and it looks nicer this way.
no doubts this looks very nice but maybe I’m confused as i can’t see how it would be much harder? you would simply wind the string and then add the rubber bands exactly like this model does.
Looks a lot easier to load without string and the gear system looks really neat
Looks a lot easier to reload without using string and the screw gear looks really neat
i built one out of lego, it was motorized but i think i could build one powered by all that rubber band tension. sort of like one of those crazy gas operated gatlings the russians use.
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Looming Terror! Funny
Nicely done too.
Neat! Would it be hard to make it so the ‘barrel’ is removable allowing for a quick reload with a preloaded barrel?
I am Heavy Weapons Guy… and this… is my weapon. She weighs one hundred fifty kilograms and fires two hundred dollar, custom-tooled cartridges at ten thousand rounds per minute. It costs four hundred thousand dollars to fire this weapon…for twelve seconds.
How much does this thing weigh in total, this must be mounted on a drone!
“elastics”??? No. Those are called “gum bands” where I’m from. Or at least “rubber bands”.
The countdown to NJ’s attorney general issuing a takedown order has been started….
I like this, it’s very clever.
Crowd fund, or at least Tindie this please!