Ping Pong

Vacuum Cannon
By Nolan Slagle

Idea
The idea is a cannon, but rather than using a
propellent like an explosive or compressed air,
it would be fueled by the air of the atmosphere.
The barrel would be sealed on both sides and
vacuumed, and when one side was punctured,
air would rush in and shoot out the other side.

Design
The design was simple, make a pvc pipe barrel and attach
a hose to it, close both sides, vacume it, and poke a hole in
one side. However building it was no easy thing.

The Cannon

Construction
The pvc was easy to get, and the barrel was a simple build.
The rest of the cannon was a headache and a pain. The
attaching of the hose as well as the end caps had several
iterations.

The Hose
The air hose had to be attached to the barrel with an
airtight seal, which was very hard to create without having
a professionally made piece. The final solution was a
extender glued in place by gorilla glue and
epoxy.

Endcaps
Lastly, what seemed like an easy request was the final
challenge. I needed a material that wouldnt implode during
pressure, but would break open if punctured. Duct tape,
plastic wrap, and some heavier plastics failed by being
either too strong, or too weak. The solution was also not
reliable.

Endcap solution
I created a holder for tinfoil for one end, the one I would
puncture, and used a heavy plastic to cover the other end.
This would work for several tests, but the plastic later
started to fail and took some time to prepare between
firings.

Results : Pressure
The lowest pressure I recorded was -21in of HG, but
endcaps failed around -20. Most testing took place
between -18 to -20, namely due to risk of failure or leaks.

Results: Velocity
Originally, I set up a camera to take a slow motion video of
the projectile traveling and would use a program to
calculate the speed. However, within 1 frame, the ball
moved half of the viewable distance, hit the target, and had
ricocheted off. Simply put, the ball was too fast for me to
even have a chance to capture on video, let alone calculate
speed.

Velocity cont.
Within one frame, the projectile traveled over .25 meters,
hit the target, and had ricocheted.

Reflection
Several pieces were unnecessary and the hose should
have been connected in the exact center so it would draw
air from both ends of the pipe equally. Also, a lot of time
was wasted due to not knowing certain things, like the size
of the air hose, as well as troubleshooting the prototypes
and failed solution. With the knowledge I have now, this
project would have been much quicker.