Overview

Design and build a hand repulsor system using CO2 or compressed air that’s powerful enough to break a pane of glass from 1-2 feet away.

Objectives

1. Do fun things related to Iron Man, since I don’t have a robotics job anymore
2. Learn about unfamiliar technology with hands on experience
3. Get back into physics and math a bit by calculating specs and estimating and testing
4. Have motivation to use Arduino
5. Keep costs low by buying used equipment

Design

I ended deciding on CO2 or compressed air, because they seem simpler and accessible compared to more powerful options such as micro-turbines.

Here is the basic design:

• Compressed CO2 or air:
  • Main power source. CO2 is denser with higher momentum, whereas air is lighter and easier to source and refill.
• High pressure regulator:
  • Must handle ~800 PSI of CO2 or air and allow an output of 150-300 PSI (TBD)
• Splitter (eventually for both hands):
  • For getting compressed gas to both repulsors
• Solenoid valve:
• For letting out puffs of compressed gas
• Nozzles:
  • To direct and speed up flow and increase momentum