Airsoft gun redesign
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Revision as of 13:32, 12 October 2007
Contents |
Executive Summary
Research and Observations
"Please provide a description of your research and observations. Define the design problem as you understand it, and identify insights and opportunities"
The Design Problem
identify insights and opportunities
The goal of redesigning the airsoft gun is to provide the airsoft player with an improved experience. Improvements may come in the form of a better tactile feel, an improvement to that way that the gun operates, addressing safety concerns and so forth.
Design Ideas
"Please provide sketches and descriptions of your top three to five design concepts, describing what opportunities have been identified and how they will be addressed."
Idea #1 - Silent Gun
Airsoft players who buy sniper rifles expect their gun to behave like a sniper rifle. One feature common among some sniper rifles are that they are silenced. The L96 generates enough noise such that when it is fired, opponents may be able to pick up on a sniper's location. The main source of noise for the airsoft gun is the piston. The piston head generates significant noise when it hits the end of its casing. The other source of noise for this gun is the bolt as it is being cocked. This is especially troublesome during an airsoft game where the tendency of the user is to pull the bolt hard and quickly to get off as many shots as possible at opponents. Silencing this gun should allow the user to cock and fire the gun without being detected by the sound of his gun.
Idea #2 - Ammo Counter + Scope Indicator
Our research at an airsoft game showed one major problem with airsoft guns is that it is difficult to determine when a gun is low on ammo. One way to solve this problem is to digitally count the remaining BBs in a magazine and display that number on an electronic counter. We believe the ideal location for this counter would be behind the bolt so that the user may glance down at the counter while he is cocking the bolt. The user, however, might not always check the ammo counter before trying to shoot the gun. For that reason a red LED will be visible in the gun scope. The LED would turn on as a "NO AMMO warning" to the user, otherwise it would remain off. Although the idea is to use the LED as a "NO AMMO warning", other possible uses for the LED have been proposed such as using it to indicate whether or not the bolt is cocked or to indicate whether or not the safety is on.
Idea #3 - Custom Body
The L96 is an unwieldy gun. This can be improved on with a custom body that will reduce the gun's long 45" length and heavy 14 lb body. The length can be reduced by designing a retractable, foldable, or sliding stock. The weight can be reduced by taking out the metal weights that are in the gun. Another inclusion to a custom body that would improve the user friendliness of the gun is a built-in bi-pod.
Idea #4 - Spring-Electric Gearbox Hybrid
There are three kinds of airsoft guns: spring, electric gearbox, and gas guns. The L96 is a spring airsoft gun which means the user has to cock the gun each time he wants to fire it. While this works fine for targets at long distances, it is a tremendous disadvantage for airsoft players in a close quarters combat situation. Airsoft guns with electric gearboxes dominate in those situations because their gearboxes allows a high rate of fire (~10 BBs/sec). The L96 could be outfitted with an electric gearbox to serve as a secondary mode of fire made especially to help out in close quarters combat.
Idea #5 - Magazine Improvements
The current magazine operates with a load capacity of 25 pellets and is loaded into the Well L96 from the bottom of the gun. Problems that we encounter with this magazine setup are that the magazine might not load correctly; multiple pellet may enter the loading chamber if the gun is cocked more than once; also, the empty magazine indicator is not easily visible and does not show how many rounds are left in the magazine.
Since there are many problems with the magazine, we agree that a complete redesign of the magazine assembly might be an alternative. Ideas to improve the loading of the magazine include chamfering the edge of the magazine or the edge of the socket so that a perpendicular entrance would be easier. Adding a guide rail between the magazine and the socket might be another option.
Another means of improving the loading is to use magnets to connect the magazine to the socket. With a magnetic connection, the connecting socket and the magazine surfaces may be a flat surface. If the magnets on the magazine and the socket are arranged in an non-symmetrical fashion that mirrors each other, then the magazine will be forced to align in the itself upon entering the socket.
To prevent the loading of more than one pellet into the barrel, arranging the pellets so that they are linear instead of a stacked formation might be an option. If the pellets are linear, only one pellet can enter the loading chamber at a time as the pellet that is already in the chamber will block the entrance of a new pellet.
To indicate the number of rounds left in the magazine, a LED counter similar to the one mentioned above may be added to the magazine. To let the user know that the magazine is empty, we can also devise a mechanism that will drop the magazine halfway out of the socket upon loading the last pellet. This added feature will make it more obvious that the magazine is empty than the current indicator.
Finally the current capacity of the magazine is 25 pellets. For ease of calculations, if we assume that the each pellet is cubic with a length of 6 mm, and that inside of the magazine is completely filled with pellets, then a theoretical max pellet count within the magazine should be approximately 270 rounds. This is an over estimate as the magazine case must have some thickness and springs to load the pellets. Regardless, we believe than an magazine with an increased capacity might be a possibility.
Comparison of Ideas
Pugh Chart
| Criteria | Weight | Standard Airsoft Gun | Silent Gun | Ammo Counter + Scope Indicator | Custom Body | Hybrid | Magazine Improvements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Realism | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| Functionality | 3 | 0 | + | + | + | ++ | + |
| Safety | 3 | 0 | - | + | 0 | - | 0 |
| Affordable | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 |
| Maintenance | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 |
| Durability | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| + | 0 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | |
| 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 8 | |
| - | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 2 | |
| Net Score | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | -4 | 1 | |
Tentative Schedule
"Assign roles to team mates with gantt chart=
Final Idea Chosen
Value Opportunity Analysis
working on this section --Terry
