SpudFiles

I am building an air soft robotic auto turret and need suggestions/help on how to make a firing mechanism. I recently got a 2 gal 100 psi air compressor, and I have a solenoid sprinkler valve and tons of tubing etc. so I can make it pneumatic, although I am also working on getting an electric AEG to hack apart.

The hard part is that the moving parts need to be light weight. Ideally I would just have the barrel move and have a tube connect it to the rest of the device.

So, I have a few questions:

Which would be the best option for this: vortex block, cloud chamber, M134 mini gun design, etc.?

What is the optimal size for a vortex block diameter? (I think I've read 3/4 inches used a lot?)

What would be a good configuration for ammo storage? I need the ammo to be stationary when the head moves.

Any other ideas and links to helpful info would be appreciated as well. Thank you!

Vick Jr wrote:Ideally I would just have the barrel move and have a tube connect it to the rest of the device.

I would tend to agree, and tried this idea with my own sentry gun here.



Of course since I was using pesky little 1mm BBs the thing jammed constantly, but if you're making it airsoft it should work.

The "minigun" design you linked to is actually a single barrel BBMG, and might provide the right inspiration:



You can used coiled tubing (pressure rated of course) as a magazine, feeding into an airsoft hop-up unit, no need for vortex blocks etc. as long as you have some sort of o-ring or detent in place to allow pressure buildup before firing. It will be more powerful than an AEG while having a much lighter gun for the turret to swing around.

Yes, that's pretty much what i what thinking. It's very simple, but potentially very effective.

I wonder if there's a way to load more bbs in the tube when the turret is not firing. I made a device that can load bbs into a tube, a little like this thing, and I'm thinking I could attach that through a large ball valve to the ammo tube. Close the valve to fire, open it and turn on the device to reload the tubes.

In any case, thanks for the input. I saw your turret before and it helped inspire mine (yes i shall have portal turret sound effects...and lasers!)

Actually, what's the difference between that and just attaching the barrel to a long long tube full of BBs to the compressor and skip the second air tube altogether?

Then again I think that it would deplete it's ammo within a second or so though. Never mind; I'll keep experimenting.

Any recommendations on what to use as a good barrel? Right now I'm using the shaft from an old titanium archery arrow, but it's a little too wide for airsoft.

I actually just built an airsoft bbmg today with an easily built vortex block. Its basically a two inch pvc pipe one foot long capped at both ends (one end with the vortex block of course). Air is hooked to the bottom, barrel is sticking out of the side. It is operated vertically so the entire two inch pipe holds several thousand rounds.

Very compact.[/quote]

Vick Jr wrote:Actually, what's the difference between that and just attaching the barrel to a long long tube full of BBs to the compressor and skip the second air tube altogether?

Then again I think that it would deplete it's ammo within a second or so though.

Sounds like a brilliant idea and to reduce ammunition consumption, you simply need a detent of some sort at the breech.

Any recommendations on what to use as a good barrel? Right now I'm using the shaft from an old titanium archery arrow, but it's a little too wide for airsoft.

Apparently many carbon fibre arrow shafts have a 6mm I/D, or you can check out your local hobby shop for brass or aluminium tubing.