Improving Accuracy

[cantab]

I'm wondering if a laser sight would work. Dubious for stealth obviously, and no good for leading a target. However good for effect. If your opponents are not quick dodgers, wait til they notice the pointer, then blast them at that exact moment (this is if you're hidden). I'd say fix a laser pointer to the side of the gun. You then don't want the pointer aligned with the barrel - instead, it should be pointed downwards, so that when the gun is aimed up about 45° for maximum range, the dot is on the expected target.
Perhaps you could figure out a way for the sight to level itself regardless of the gun angle. Just making it manually rotatable (in elevation) would be a start. If you want to go fancier, you'll need a weight (the pointer's own might suffice, mount it below the axis) and a damping system. You then want it 'critically damped' or a little under. Critical damping is the level that lets the system return to equilibrium (ie level) in the shortest possible time, without overshooting (swinging back and forth). Find it by experimentation.
Hmm...I might give this a try. The Arctic Blast has nice flat surfaces for attaching things to.

[Silence]

Sounds like a plan. After thinking about pendulums for a moment with sqrt(g/l), etc., it seems like you really need a well-paired weight and damper. But even then, it'll be weird to see the laser point swing up and down as it settles on the target.

I'm kinda burned out on physics after a terrible (high school) class, so I'm not exactly up to doing the math right now.

Regardless, I think fine-tuning a mechanical cam would be pretty difficult. An accelerometer would work, but it would take some magic and maybe a spell or two for reliability. You might be able to use a sphere sitting inside a matching, lubed sphere, with the weight and laser in the inner sphere. The inner sphere wouldn't move much thanks to inertia and low friction, and any movement would eventually be nullified by the weight and friction.

[Drenchenator]

Critical damping is the level that lets the system return to equilibrium (ie level) in the shortest possible time, without overshooting (swinging back and forth). Find it by experimentation.

You can also find out if it's critically damped by solving its differential equation if you know how to. But that's fairly up there in math, yet it's not impossible. Experimentation might be easier for most people. Still, good idea.

[Ben]

That's an interesting idea. I'm surprised I haven't seen anything like that before. I think I'll look into it to help you get an idea of what configuration would be critically damped cantab. If I'm remembering correctly the characteristic polynomial of the force equation will have a double root if it's critically damped. If you don't know what that means don't worry.

Though this situation might be a little more complicated if I try to compensate for the weight of the laser pointer. If we assume that the laser pointer's weight is negligible compared against the weight of the pendulum bob it'll be simpler. I'm overanalyzing the situation obviously.

[C-A_99]

Try using some rings of PVC, or entire PVC tubes. I could swear I made a post suggesting this earlier, but I guess it slipped through without me noticing for some reason. 0_o

Anyways, one time, when experiementing, I got something that looks kind of like an MP5/G3 sights by using a half-cut ring of PVC in the back, a full ring in the front, and some metal pin that sticks through. I also bent some paper clips around and created a crosshair for a short piece of PVC. However, the pinpoint stuff isn't really necessary, a pair of PVC rings should do the job. (a long piece of PVC tube may even work) The next thing to consider, do you want the sights to be level or angled? When level, you have to maually compensate for drop-off but for angled, it's best to establish a standard angle for all your sights.

The last time I saw anyone use a laser pointer on an unmodded plastic toy gun was one masking taped to the rail of a nerf longshot. Personally, I don't like the idea of using them because you can't always see them, they're unecessary, and for the previously mentioned stealth and leading issues.

[Silence]

Ben, physical pendulums are definitely going to be the worst part. It might be easier if you get then rotational inertia down beforehand, but then you're stuck with whatever shape pendulum you started with. Unless you can combine the integral r*r dm and how the pendulum's shape affects the friction, which is affected by the angle of the pendulum. That's definitely beyond my abilities.

[Ben]

You're right that I'd have to take inertia into account. That still seems relatively straightforward. It'd probably be a system of differential equations then. I can solve some of those and find stability in some more of them but it's definitely more complicated. Scientific computing programs help a lot. I'll have to think about it.