22 replies to this topic

[Nerfy BuNNy]

After some reviews of Red Foam from Cxwq, he clearly stated that making Darts with Red Foam can be a more difficult task.

If we can invent some sort of Machine, or small system that can create darts for us, it would be a giant leap in the NERF Community. This may take away the glory of looking at your perfect dome, but in the longterm it may pay off.

This machine would not only help in constructing RED DARTS, but also in normal darts. This task of making stefan darts is pretty time consuming and it can be frustrating for starters because the art of Gluing the dome and making the darts nice and straight can be pretty hard at first.

It would take a long time to learn to make a dart perfectly, so it would have its best performance (ex. cxwq's darts).

We can construct a machine that creates Stefan darts for us, it can slowly pull the FBR into a small tube having a timed Blade that will thrust downwards to cut the Foam perfectly Straight since the blade will be going down through a slit.

This process should look like the FBR coming through a Brass or CPVC pipe with a slit through it. At the end will be a vaccuum (not a cleaning one but an air one that sucks out the air). That will provide the suction needed to move the FBR at a speed that will allow the blade to cut the FBR at a desirable legnth. (the FBR will be fed from a roll, and while coming through the pipe it would straighten.)

After this process it could be taken to a converyor belt and dropped into a basket with holes in it. The basket shakes so that the FBR is forced to fall through the holes in a vertical position, these are picked up by some sort of Carrier of the darts. It would be moved to the Hole and gluing process.

The save power and make the system simple, the holes in the top for the BB's or Fishing Weights will be made by a rotating Screw Driver, or if plans might be changed if this comes a reality, it will just be melted by a timed Hot Metal tip. The screw driver would be rotating in one spot and then carrier would spin and push the darts up 1 by one.

Explanation of the Carrier: It will be a cylindric object with holders on the side where the darts would fall into after the cutting process. It would move aside a few Inches to the gluing. The darts in the holders will be pushed upwards into the holing device (hot tip or screwdriver). It will be pushed up by a small metal rod on beside the metal carrier that is timed. (Ex. Every 4 seconds it would pop up to push on a dart). The metal rod would go back down and wait the time and the dart would fall down on the force of gravity. The carrier would be spinning so all the darts would get the hole in the top.

The carrier stays in the same spot for the BB's. There should be a track for BB's with a small cover at the front so the BB's would not roll down the track before wanted. The cover would be in time with the Rod, and powered by the same motor. So everytime a hole is placed into a Dart, the carrier would turn and the BB on a track that is placed diagnolly downwards would fall into the hole.

The next process is to put a glue dome. The glue gun would be like the metal rod but it is now on top of the Carrier so it can dab downwards and squeeze glue out at a fixed time. (ex. Would come down every 3 seconds, shoot glue out the top for 1 second making a custom glue dome size and then go back up and wait another 3 seconds).

The carrier would stop until the person (nerfer) would remove the darts from the carrier and then press a button which triggers the carrier to move back to the shaking basket to repeat its process.

It should be able to make around 10 darts or depending on the carrier size, in 1 minute. This process would go pretty fast but controlled.

This may happen some day, and I will look forward into making this in Highschool because every year there is a convention where they build stuff and 1\10 people make a robotic arm that does something, so I'll make something like this.

Unless someone else wnats to start this sometime or come up with their own design feel free to help the nerf community!

-Nerfy Bunny

*NOTE* The size of the machine is undetermined but for sure the legnth or <----> direction of the machine will be much larger than its width (vertically measuring)

Edited by Nerfy_BuNNy, 30 July 2004 - 09:53 AM.

[JSkater]

Wow. You are a crazy fuck.

[Nerfy BuNNy]

Wow. You are a crazy fuck.

That is suppose to mean? Does that mean my post was really long?

[texmustache]

Lego Mindstorms anyone?
I brainstormed this once, because i think i have the lego tools to do it.
If you don't know what mindstorms is, it's basically advanced legos. There's motors, and you can control them and program them and other sensors. I could have the foam on a conveyer belt, and have a blade attached to a arm to cut every few inches. Now, the glue gun part is a lot more complex, but cutting wouldn't be too hard i think. The lego controller can run 3 motors at once. You'd need 1 for the belt and one for the blade. If you rigged the glue gun on a rack, then you could use 1 more to push it in and out. It's possible you could put the bb's on another conveyer belt, but you'd have to get the whole system in perfect timing.

Edited by texmustache, 30 July 2004 - 11:21 AM.

[CustomSnake202]

I can see how you would power the conveyer belt, but the cutting motion is giving me trouble. About the lego mindstorm motors; are there different motors other than the ones that only turn clock-wise and counter clock-wise? Because I have only seen/used the CW and CCW motors. The whole lego idea seems interesting.

[texmustache]

These only turn clockwise and counter, but you can use gears and other pieces to do just about anthing. The only problem is they aren't very powerful.

[JSkater]

Does that mean my post was really long?

Yeah, something like that.

[Nerfy BuNNy]

You can put the motor in a horizontal position and put a blade on the end. So the blade would spin and cut the FBR. It doesn't need to go to fast or else the FBR would be cut way too small.

If you're going for the full 360 Degree spinning blade, it should just cut the FBR at the end of the straightening tube instead of cutting it while its inside.

[ShortShit]

I like the idea of make a stefanmachine, just seems a little above our abilities atm. The red foam isnt that much harder to make darts w/, I think what he meant is, its just easier to fuckup and deform the foam so you take little more time being careful, instead of just making shitdarts with flaws, so really its a good thing -- the red foam with ensure people will be making quality darts!

[Nerfy BuNNy]

I like the idea of make a stefanmachine, just seems a little above our abilities atm. The red foam isnt that much harder to make darts w/, I think what he meant is, its just easier to fuckup and deform the foam so you take little more time being careful, instead of just making shitdarts with flaws, so really its a good thing -- the red foam with ensure people will be making quality darts!

That is very true. But if we never try at some point in time the task of making stefans everytime after a LANO, SENO war overall is pretty annoying.

Its fun to shoot them, and make them but making them in mass quantities may get annoying after awhile. IT'll be good for small businesses , example; Webbzters Stefan making service.

I am just saying, I've seen so many high school projects of G 8's making robotic arms that sort out colored bottles by picking them up from a moving converyor belt and dropping them in a correct colored bin all by itself. This is much more complex and requires camera's and sensors and stuff. This may need 1 sensor or so, but will good timing of the machines it can work much simpler.

What we can do is put capacitors for the motors so everything is timed right. Bigger capacitors for the slower moving ones, like the ones that go every 6 seconds should use a bigger capacitor than a 2 second one.

Also, most large manufacturing companies like of every product (examples of real companies that use these) Tooth pick companies, snowboards, bathtubs, paintballs, liquor, etc. etc.

So this could work and I think it would if we have the right minds and materials even if it doesn't happen this year, it still would be a "nerf technological advancement".

[jpshyboi9]

though the lego motors are not powerful, you can use other more powerful motors. A motor powered by 2 D bateries could work to move a pare a scisors or you can put a knife on a gear and the convayor-belt (splelling?) would have a gap in it so the knife just cuts it.


So, using that idea, you could have a gap and you smiply turn the belt on and off when the fbr get the the right length. Then, turn the motor on and chop it. Then it's ready to go and is laid in a bucket to be glued.

Lather, rinse and repeat.



get 5' of 1/2" pipe and start a little nerfing business with the belt chopper and a bourd with pvc on it to place the fbr in.

That would be nice a nerf convensions.

[Langley]

If you search on google for it, I have definately seen a robotic platform which slides a grip along a two tracks so that it can easily and precisely move along both the y and x axis, and I have seen at least one such device that can be purchased with an attatchment made specifically for dispensing hot glue. It may have had a serial port and windows based drives as an option.

[Arcanis]

The FBR moves through a pipe to be cut by a blade that can spin on a motor, or be pushed down on a track. In the same pipe, the cut FBR is grabbed by mechanical arms (simple pinching kind, acts like a tong) and flipped so the dart is now vertical. The arm carries the dart from the track (the arm does a 180 degree turn) to:


1.
A conveyor belt, with sections of 9/16 brass on it for the darts. The dart is dropped/inserted into one of the brass pieces and begins it's way down the line. A first glue gun is hooked up to a track, which lowers to burn the hole in the darts. Then, you have a BB dispenser. They do make these, you push a little button on the top which force feeds a BB out a little hole. They make them for slingshots at at my local shooting range, and I hear you can rent them. Next, there's a second hotglue gun which hovers over the darts with an extra long glue stick pushed by a shaft connected to a track. It will move down 5 mm or whatever for each dart. (if needed: a second "blade" will cut off the string of glue that commonly appears) The darts then continue down the track to be cooled down by a fan on the left, right, and top. When the conveyor belt goes upside down, the darts will fall out of their brass holders into a bowl of ice water.

Motors needed:
1 for conveyor belt, 1 for arm, 2 for glue guns, 1 for BB dispenser. 5 motors.
Also you would need an RCX, which is the "mind" of all mindstorms inventions.

You might want to hook the 3 fans up to a single switch do they can be turned on at the same time to prevent the hot glue from blowing over to one side.

I would say it's definitely possible.

EDIT: Have a light sensor to shut off the whole unit if no foam is seen in the tube.

Edited by Arcanis, 04 August 2004 - 02:39 PM.

[Jay Dub]

This theory might have a little too much ... manual labor in it, but here it is anyway. It is mainly based on what you all have written, but still, i need to have some control, or if 1 thing is wrong, it willl be all fucked up. I believe that if u have 2 stations powered by a motor. 1 is the glue and 1 is the box to make them all vertical. I think it would be easy enough to get a good flat cut by just using a razor blade hooked on to a hinge that is also connected to the board. So the board has a stopper to make the measurments perfect, and the razor blade just needs to be moved to cut it. It is not perfect yet, but i will keep tryin.

Also, Have u thought about using knex, it might be a whole new process.

[Cadmond]

Heh.. you guys don't really understand how easy (wait.. I mean difficult) this would be. However, I didn't read most of nerf bunny's post, so if he mentioned this, then .. oh well..

The only hard (hardest) part I can think of for this (langley kicked CNC into my mind) is the programming, and drilling a baseboard to hold 10x10 (20x20, 30x30, whatever the hell you want) stefan blanks. Oh, and the monies.. always the monies. Monies for the linear bearings, for the machine shop (if you're like that,) for the electronics, for the extra things you'll buy for yourself during this project so you can feel like a pretty little girl again .... *cough*.. Cutting stefans is easy.. very easy.. I don't think that is needed in the system, but glueing, and whatnot, is much more annoying.

So yeah, CNC glue gun. Basically, a cheapened this with maybe a sinker dispenser, swirling peltier top domer, ect, ect, blah blah blah.

*Prepares for the ridicule and yelling*

Edited by Cadmond, 04 August 2004 - 02:42 AM.

[texmustache]

You can do the same thing with legos, at least on a smaller scale. If you only had 3 motors, you could have one to control horizontal and vertical movement, one to dispense bb's, and if you had a spare RCX, you could bring 3 motors up to 6. So, 1 each for horizontal and vertical movement, 1 for bb dispenser, 1 for hot glue gun, one for trimming the hot glue stuff. It wouldn't be easy, but people have built crazier things.

examples
Example One
Example Two
It's A Scanner, But The Track System could be used

Found At This Site

Edited by texmustache, 04 August 2004 - 09:07 AM.

[MysticFalcon182]

Hey, if this works, I'll get back into Nerf again!

The reason I quit Nerf was because I was too lazy to make Stefans

[ShortShit]

The reason I quit Nerf was because I was too lazy to make Stefans

that makes you a douche, because its really quite a trivial matter (making darts). That would be like being a writter, and quitting because your pencil broke and you didnt want to ever have to sharpen one again.

*am hoping you were being sarcastic*

Edited by ShortShit, 04 August 2004 - 12:38 PM.

[Suave]

The reason I quit Nerf was because I was too lazy to make Stefans

that makes you a douche, because its really quite a trivial matter (making darts). That would be like being a writter, and quitting because your pencil broke and you didnt want to ever have to sharpen one again.

*am hoping you were being sarcastic*

Damn, you beat me to it.

[Gene-ious]

I have a few ideas that i thought of.. but the best one i think is this.1 Get a shop with all the machinery with the equipment.2 Get people to work there.3 Pay them $1.50 per hour. -PRESTO INSTANT SWEATSHOP!

Edited by Gene-ious, 22 August 2004 - 06:22 PM.

[FIDO]

Tihs is a month old topic and your idea sounds really weird.

Sorry if tha came out in a mean tone.

[Black Wrath]

I have a few ideas that i thought of.. but the best one i think is this.1 Get a shop with all the machinery with the equipment.2 Get people to work there.3 Pay them $1.50 per hour. -PRESTO INSTANT SWEATSHOP!

I have a few ideas too... but the best one I came up with was for you to read this.

I can't believe that you thought that that was going to be a well accepted post.

[Diablo]

I could make 1,000 darts in the time it would take you guys to make a machine to do it.

Honestly, how hard is it to make a Stefan dart? If you are really having trouble, just make little dart holders out of copper or CPVC so you can use both of your hands.