Team CADET at Rice University have developed a slingshot-driven device that stops high-velocity projectiles without destroying them. Currently, the Air Force simulates deceleration by firing cannons into walls. The strategy is expensive and the sensor module and target are typically destroyed in the process. Team CADET’s goal was to sustain deceleration for at least 10 milliseconds, and without destruction.
They machined a cylinder of aircraft-gauge aluminum and sealed a digital accelerometer inside. Next, the team built a 14-foot wooden frame to hold a track fashioned from angle iron. On one end, they attached a slingshot made from surgical tubing; on the other, above the track, they fitted a 20-gallon fish tank with transparent plastic. Into the bottom of the tank a line of 40 holes was drilled, and then sealed them with a removable rubber sheet.
When the cylinder holding the accelerometer is fired with the slingshot, reaching a maximum velocity of about 50 miles per hour, the sheet is pulled off and the water is released from the tank. The falling water slows the cylinder, and the rate of deceleration is measured and recorded on the digital device. The cylinder and its contents remain undamaged and the test can be repeated indefinitely.
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