long range ammo MiniBoy Mark I

[Lockednloaded]

Can I point out that projectiles are essentially in freefall for the whole of their flight, and there is a slight problem with using level switches in freefall?

But even if it doesn't trigger until the projectile hits the ground, you'd still get a nice plume if smoke at the landing site

[saefroch]

Not if the miniboy hits sand. At the velocity it'll be travelling, it may not eject anything at all until it's almost completely buried.

[warhead052]

What about a camera, I am talking a still frame camera, and leave the shutter open till it impacts, then open the picture, and follow to impact zone? Use steel wool on fire though, that will produce an effect like this.

Leave the shutter open? That would produce one helluva blurred photo if I'm following you correctly. Regardless, a camera would screw up the Cd and would be either too expensive, too large or not able to transmit. If I can transmit a photo, I may as well transmit the location.

No no no, a camera behind the cannon with steel wool burning inside the miniboy. That way you get the cool steel wool effects that act like tracers without being incendiary.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

...burning inside the miniboy. That way you get the cool steel wool effects that act like tracers without being incendiary

[MrCrowley]

not to be that d### who is always saying 'told ya!!' but
I told you!!

you should have chosen a design that is cheap and easy to produce

Like I would give up the chance to fire the MiniBoy

How DEEP is the cavity you could put the cargo into? With no carbonates and a little bit of overcooking, I made a cake that would be sufficient for you, lasted 35s.

At most, about 80mm. Part of that is smaller than the previously mentioned 12.6mm diameter.

Thanks for the help with the cake by the way.

[POLAND_SPUD]

Can you get some nerve agent?
though that method would require a lot of sticks with living hamsters duct taped to them

No no no, a camera behind the cannon with steel wool burning inside the miniboy. That way you get the cool steel wool effects that act like tracers without being incendiary.

he acctually might be up to something

an LED lighter placed in the projectile and 2 or 3 cameras placed where you expect it to land

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Can you get some nerve agent?
though that method would require a lot of sticks with living hamsters duct taped to them

Class

[MrCrowley]

he acctually might be up to something

an LED lighter placed in the projectile and 2 or 3 cameras placed where you expect it to land

I only have one camera that can do manual shutter (thanks to CHDK) and I wouldn't risk putting it down range

I think using smoke in conjunction with a camera at the launch site with manual shutter speed is the best of both worlds. I don't think the camera would give me a good enough idea of the projectile range if it just did a manual exposure of an LED or burning steel wool.

30 seconds of smoke would be great, even better if it ignited mid-flight.

If you had to see my university notes... I was the peak of my nihilistic "Nothing matters, we're essentially all highly evolved monkeys clinging to a rock that's falling through space and the rock itself is dying." phase - haven't quite grown out of it completely but I'm a happier person now

If you didn't already know, that's actually pretty close to my real university notes... I study human evolution

edit:

Bunch of tilt switches for cheap:
Mercury $6.50
Mercury $4
Rolling ball $3
Rolling ball $3.75
Rolling ball $7

Think I would go with the mercury one as the balls may initially be pushed forward in the barrel before they are forced back from acceleration. Apparently mercury doesn't jump around as much.

Not if the miniboy hits sand. At the velocity it'll be travelling, it may not eject anything at all until it's almost completely buried.

Worse still, it could land in the dunes and even if it lands on the main part of the beach, the sand is extremely soft. Let's hope it rains the morning of the launch.

[saefroch]

If you decide to go with the cakey method (which I expect you do), a nozzle won't hamper the visibility, but it should, with sufficient duration, allow you to find the miniboy even if it's buried in loose sand (assuming nose-first, which I think is reasonable). Only possible issue I see with this is your desire to ignite mid-flight. I have NO IDEA how you can manage that. All I can suggest is a really slow shielded fuse, thought that capicator idea may have some merit here.

ALTERNATIVELY: You could do the continuous exposure to get a rough idea and set up some sort of trigger to dump a charge capacitor into a heating element that's buried in the cake on an impact, some sort of crude but very reliable accelerometer would work.

Oh... and there may be a problem with putting a nozzle on (if you'd count it a problem). Something with conservation of momentum? Maybe?

[Fnord]

Can't you just cram the thing full of an alkali metal/smokebomb mix and wait for the tide to come in? It'll give you plenty of time to get spotters down range in the likely landing zone.

You'll need good aim to make sure it's within the tide's range but given your low angle it's entirely possible

[myinisjap]

Igniting the cake mid flight has a high chance of changing the trajectory of mini due to the amount of pressure that is relaesed by the smoke mix burning. I have used a very similar mix to propel objects.

[saefroch]

alkali metal/smokebomb mix

While that sounds like a great idea, how do you keep the alkali metal from reacting fully with the atmosphere, but let it react with the seawater? And how do you keep the miniboy from being stolen by a wave?

Oh and... this what I referred to before, the container is almost the same size as inside the miniboy, with a nozzle maybe 2mm in diameter. [youtube][/youtube]

[MrCrowley]

Igniting the cake mid flight has a high chance of changing the trajectory of mini due to the amount of pressure that is relaesed by the smoke mix burning. I have used a very similar mix to propel objects.

I have had this thought in the back of my mind considering the cake will be contained.

If you decide to go with the cakey method (which I expect you do), a nozzle won't hamper the visibility, but it should, with sufficient duration, allow you to find the miniboy even if it's buried in loose sand (assuming nose-first, which I think is reasonable). Only possible issue I see with this is your desire to ignite mid-flight. I have NO IDEA how you can manage that. All I can suggest is a really slow shielded fuse, thought that capicator idea may have some merit here. for the smoke?

Sorry, just a bit lost here, had we previously discussed using some sort of nozzle?

As for ignition mid flight, the tilt switch had some merits to it, perhaps enough for me to order one and do some testing. If it doesn't work on the day, at least I tried.

ALTERNATIVELY: You could do the continuous exposure to get a rough idea and set up some sort of trigger to dump a charge capacitor into a heating element that's buried in the cake on an impact, some sort of crude but very reliable accelerometer would work.

Oh... and there may be a problem with putting a nozzle on (if you'd count it a problem). Something with conservation of momentum? Maybe?

Could a capacitor even be made small enough to fit inside? I'm not overly fussed about ignition mid-flight, I can live with pre-firing ignition of the cake.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I have had this thought in the back of my mind considering the cake will be contained.

The vents are fairly wide compared to the quantity of Betty Crocker's, I wouldn't worry about too much thrust being produced. It's more likely to have this effect, which is pretty sweet.

[saefroch]

No previous nozzle discussed, but it'd let you see the location if it's under sand, it'll blow the sand away. Really. Those gases are moving REALLY fast right near the nozzle. I suggest nozzle, which will add thrust and range probably.

I think Rag pointed out... a tilt switch won't work since the miniboy's in freefall. No gravity = no tilt to sense.

I think you could fit a capacitor, a photoflash might even work, or smaller. Capacitors come in all sorts of sizes, I've no doubt you could fit one.