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The possibilities for failure in long-range shooting are as immense as they are mind-numbing. Pitch, yaw, air density, heat, cold, the curve of the earth, and the planet’s rotation on its axis all conspire make shots at half-a-mile miss, on average, by about 30 feet.
Sandia Labs looks like they’ve changed all that with their new self-guided round, which sheds enough convention that it resembles a small missile more than a traditional bullet (via Katie Drummond at Danger Room).
Four-inches long, laser-guided, while sporting fins and a forward center of gravity, Sandia’s bullet has an optical sensor in the nose that guides it to the target, while an eight-bit processor running a proprietary algorithm steers the round as it flies. Sandia expects the new technology to be developed quickly and inexpensively.
Because of the bullet’s diminutive size compared to, say, a full-scale missile, the same flight corrections can be performed dozens of times per second in its Mach 2.1 flight. Sandia’s engineers expect to raise that speed to military requirements using customized gunpowder.
A small light attached to the round charts its path during a nighttime field test at Sandia Labs. (Photo: Sandia Labs)
The following video shows the bullet leaving the barrel of a rifle. The round pitches (wobbles up and down) a lot after firing, but calms the farther it flies—an effect called “going to sleep” by experts. This phenomenon allows the round to achieve greater accuracy the farther it flies; a result that surprised everyone involved.
How interesting.
Best-
Vikram
It ain’t over ’til it’s over! "Rocky,Rocky,Rocky....."
holy smokes! i would love to get my hands on the algorithm, how the hell did they fit an optical sensor, 8 bit processor, power supply, memory and they would probably have something to control the fins in a four inch bullet
I believe in second chances… it’s called reloading
“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense” — Winston Churchill, Oct 29, 1941
i believe in the good ole usa they have already come up with laser guided bullet few years back. point the handgun at the target and the bullet moves towards it, if the target moves so does the bullet.
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Last edited by nagarifle on Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Nagarifle
if you say it can not be done, then you are right, for you, it can not be done.
Hell! With a few more gizmos and modifcations thrown in, maybe a little thicker in size to accomodate the same(actually thicker the better), a self guided hot air seeking bullet can be designed to go up the exhaust of certain politicians.
hvj1 wrote:Hell! With a few more gizmos and modifcations thrown in, maybe a little thicker in size to accomodate the same(actually thicker the better), a self guided hot air seeking bullet can be designed to go up the exhaust of certain politicians.
you mean MK 1 fart bullets?
Nagarifle
if you say it can not be done, then you are right, for you, it can not be done.
