Technically a grappling hook launcher. Or hurler really. Believe it or not, I succeeded in building this fabled super spy gadget with a plastic water bottle, an air fill valve, a ball valve, and a spare tube of schedule 40.
The photo with the grass is an update of the build. The tube sticking up holds the line spool. Below is a modified power drill that acts like a fishing reel to bring the line back.
On my first test fire, I used a depleted 12 gram C02 cartridge. Often used for refillable keyboard dusters, paintball pistols, air pistols and gourmet whip cream pressurizers. No seriously, I've seen those.
Any way, on the first test fire, the round went so high up that I couldn't see it anymore.
This brought me to believe that the unit had enough potential force to literally lodge a tethered round into a wooden or thin metal object.
Hence the grappling effect.
My hope here is that I can follow the usual rule of techno evolution and start out with a big unit, and eventually have a small sized unit capable of firing a line up a building and assisting in climbing it. Maybe just an electronic carabiner in it or something..
I have yet to modify the C02 12 Gram round into an actual grappling hook, but someday when I have a ton of funding and I can splurge on titanium and high tensile steel wire, I'll do just that.
Then I'll go climb a really tall building super hero style.
=)
Here's a video I took in the beginning stages. Later on I redesigned it completely and added a bunch of cool things like the extended hand crank for the firing mechanism, the modded power drill for retrieving the line.. etc. I haven't had time to make a new video for that one. Here's this video for now though. Enjoy!
