Coilgun Mk. I – Intent

The main purpose of this project is to learn about magnetism and create a (semi) practical application for which there exist many reasonably detailed analyses that may be used as points of comparison.

I did not and do not intend to create a dangerous weapon. From the outset, my intent was to create a device with a muzzle energy equivalent to a BB or pellet gun.

That said, potential applications of this technology exist in many fields. For example, I am intrigued by the concept of using magnetic accelerators to throw asteroid harpoons and/or build rock-splitters for exploratory vehicles. In the future, perhaps we’ll see staged solenoids used to create high-efficiency mass-drivers. Who knows. For now, I’ll just keep learning.