Prototyping and Target Re-Design.

Once I knew that I could knock the target over with my little Airsoft gun I had to find out if I could pop it back up. I sent off for five of these little 12V solenoids. (Link to allelectronics.com).

They arrived and I attached one to my prototype target, that had now lost some metal of the bottom and gained some weights instead, This helped me balance the target better.

Here is a video of the solenoid test.



At this point I was just connecting the solenoid terminals to a 12V battery pack I had.

The bracket for the Solenoid was quite complicated as I had to add an extra flap to stop the solenoid core from falling out as it was not retained by the solenoid itself:

This would turn into a much more simple design by the end of the target creation so I won't talk about creating the bracket now.

It was also time to redesign the target as it was quite over worked, but that's how you learn lessons I guess.

I changed the core of the target from the 'U' shaped assembly to a single block of wood:

With a hole in the corner to hold the hinge pin:

And sanded so as to clear the target as it moves:

The targets are cut from the aluminum sheeting I had:

And the hinge holes Drilled in the hinge flaps:

The target is attached to the holder with a short length of wire coat hanger wire:
(Bend one side of the wire before you put it through the hinge holes and the other end once it's through).

Lastly for weight and as a handy way of balancing the target I put a small bolt through the bottom corner and used washers and nuts to get the balance just right (Sorry this picture isn't the best I hope you get the idea).

Next Time, the new solenoid design...