Mechatronic Nerf Blaster

The blaster fires darts by propelling them from a chain using compressed air into a pair of flywheels. The compressed air is controlled by a solenoid valve, timed by an Arduino reading the sensor input from a rotary encoder, which is synced to the gear that holds the chain. The electrical system contains the Arduino microcontroller, two DC motors, a solenoid valve, and an ultrasonic distance sensor that triggers firing. The compressed air system is composed of a high-pressure storage tank and two buffer tanks at the lower firing pressure.

I created wiring diagrams and a piping and instrumentation diagram and wrote sections of the microcontroller code. I also assembled the compressed air system and manufactured the chain, as well as parts of the electrical system.

In mechatronics class, we were tasked with designing a complex system that combined both mechanical and electronic systems. My group designed a Nerf blaster that used a belt-fed compressed air and flywheel system to fire darts. Our blaster was designed and optimized for a high dart speed and dart firing rate. We achieved 700 darts per minute at a speed of 80 miles per hour.

Takeaways

Through this project, I experienced the entire design process, from ideation to final system integration and testing.

Lessons learned:

  • In systems that must be precise, it is important to have sensing components to provide feedback to active components

  • Mechanical systems that interact with tight tolerances require time and multiple iterations to perfect