Prototype Laser Gatling Gun Unveiled

[StewShearerOld]

Prototype Laser Gatling Gun Unveiled


Laser Gadgets and Wicked Lasers have released a video showing off a gatling gun prototype.

Try to think of the coolest weapon ever devised by a human mind. If your answer to this question is anything other than the gatling gun from <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RbL4PwTDsQ>Terminator 2 (the one from Predator was a runner up), then you're doing it wrong. Trees, cars, asphalt; it shreds them like paper at a confetti factory. The second the people in the scene realize what Mr. Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 is packing, they book it for safety, because, as videogames can also attest, <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=505zXGN9I5M>you don't mess with a gatling gun. The only possible way we could think of to even remotely improve on the design of man's best bullet spitter would be to add lasers. Someone else apparently agreed.

Wicked Laser, have unveiled a video showing off a prototype for a laser gatling gun. Armed with six of Wicked Lasers' <a href=http://www.wickedlasers.com/arctic>Spyder 3 Artic laser pointers, the laser gatling isn't quite as lethal as its bullet fueled sibling. That said, it's not without its dangers. The <a href=http://gizmodo.com/5560206/the-spyder-iii-pro-arctic-is-a-real-life-lightsaber>Spyder 3 is, currently, the world's most powerful portable laser and is fully capable of causing permanent blindness as well setting fire to human skin. To drive the point home that this can cause some actual harm, the video ends with the systematic slaughter of several balloons. People might not pop quite the same way, but we still cringe to think of trading places with them.

Source: <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY5RYb14mIE>YouTube


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[CriticalMiss]

I was kind of expecting more than 6 laser pointers attached to a motor. I want to see this thing unleashed on a hall of mirrors full of cats. That would be a video worth watching.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

The nerd in me says that's pretty cool. The engineer in me points out that there is no reason to mount the lasers into a rotating chamber, and that it's a waste of power.

 

[JamesBr]

I know logically that for maximum effectiveness the lasers on this produce solid beams all at once, but I still wished it fired one at a time in rapid succession like an actual Gatling gun (or at least like the laser Gatling gun from Fallout). /sigh Reality is unrealistic.

Still really cool though.

 

[kajinking]

Still stronger than an Imperial Guard Lasgun

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

I was kind of expecting more than 6 laser pointers attached to a motor. I want to see this thing unleashed on a hall of mirrors full of cats. That would be a video worth watching.

But... the kitties... no...

 

[Denamic]

The point of a gatling gun is to allow far more rapid firing than a single barrel can withstand. The advantage isn't really there when it comes to a continuous beam of light. This is just 6 lasers attached to a mount that spins. Still, it looks cool and 6 lasers is more awesome than 1 laser.

 

[Roxas1359]

Alright, let's just hope that this person doesn't get the final product, or gets pissed off:

Spoiler

I'd hate to see the results unless he were on my side. XD

 

[Aeshi]

I know logically that for maximum effectiveness the lasers on this produce solid beams all at once,

Actually, I think that would depend on how said Gatling Laser would be designed. Regular Gatling Guns switch between barrels to prevent heat damage, as the Rates-of-Fire most Miniguns are capable of would cause their barrels to melt if all the bullets went through the same barrel.

I admit I'm not an engineer, but I'm pretty sure a Fallout-style Gatling Laser could still work if it was swapping between "Laser Focusing Chamber[footnote]I know that's probably not the correct term for them[/footnote]" between each shot, giving each of said chambers some time to cool down before it's fired again.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

I know logically that for maximum effectiveness the lasers on this produce solid beams all at once,

Actually, I think that would depend on how said Gatling Laser would be designed. Regular Gatling Guns switch between barrels to prevent heat damage, as the Rates-of-Fire most Miniguns are capable of would cause their barrels to melt if all the bullets went through the same barrel.

I admit I'm not an engineer, but I'm pretty sure a Fallout-style Gatling Laser could still work if it was swapping between "Laser Focusing Chamber[footnote]I know that's probably not the correct term for them[/footnote]" between each shot, giving each of said chambers some time to cool down before it's fired again.

Or just have the spinning lasers mounted behind a plate with only one hole in it.
BOOM, gatling gun effect.
(Use a NON-flammable plate though)

 

[FalloutJack]

This is just a prototype and proof that it's possible. From there, we can only go up.

 

[JamesBr]

I know logically that for maximum effectiveness the lasers on this produce solid beams all at once,

Actually, I think that would depend on how said Gatling Laser would be designed. Regular Gatling Guns switch between barrels to prevent heat damage, as the Rates-of-Fire most Miniguns are capable of would cause their barrels to melt if all the bullets went through the same barrel.

I admit I'm not an engineer, but I'm pretty sure a Fallout-style Gatling Laser could still work if it was swapping between "Laser Focusing Chamber[footnote]I know that's probably not the correct term for them[/footnote]" between each shot, giving each of said chambers some time to cool down before it's fired again.

I'm pretty sure the problem powerful lasers has less to do with chamber containing the gain medium becoming too hot and more the power supply overheating from sustained use (someone feel free to correct me on that).

Actually pulsing a laser over a target should (remember, not a physicist either) be more damaging since the evaporated particles have a chance to dissipate so there is less diffusion of light. I would think. But I don't think you need more than a single barrel to do it, other than Rule of Cool of course, since lasers don't have "barrels" to heat up.

Captcha = no dice, but only after I failed to fill it in ><

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Wow, someone managed to put lasers on a spinny thing. That's extremely impressive.

Oh, wait, no, that's actually not impressive at all. Much like most Wicked Lasers products, it's just a powerful laser marketed in a remarkably silly way.

 

[4RM3D]

There is no reason for lasers to spin around, unlike their bullet counterparts.

It looks cool, yes. But it isn't practical. Also, rail-gun > (gatling) laser.

 

[Pyrian]

I'm pretty sure the problem powerful lasers has less to do with chamber containing the gain medium becoming too hot and more the power supply overheating from sustained use (someone feel free to correct me on that).

Well, as the laser gets more powerful, you have potential overheating at virtually every step in process. Simply attaching the laser to an adequate power supply won't necessarily protect the cables, chamber, lenses, targeting mirrors, nearby kittens, atmospheric plasma ionization lensing, and so on. You have to consider the whole system.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Clowns everywhere just cringed. What happens to their beloved balloons when these bad boys get mass produced.

Chaos will ensue, the clowns will fight back.

 

[Headsprouter]

There is no reason for lasers to spin around, unlike their bullet counterparts.

It looks cool, yes. But it isn't practical. Also, rail-gun > (gatling) laser.

YES

Spoiler

Pew pew pew! Blast through ALL the walls! Although, I don't think railguns will ever be as small as the Mag-Charger...

 

[Bigsmith]

Wow, this seems pointless on every level.

It's not even a Gatling gun, being so would mean that only one laser at a time would be on - not all of them. This would actually be beneficial if this was a real thing as it would give time for the other lasers to cool down and with them only being on for fractions of seconds at a time meaning that they won't get very hot anyway.

Also, the title is really misleading. I only clicked it because I thought that they had actually made a fully working laser Gatling gun for use in the military for shooting down missiles, for example. Not a few high power Lasers stuck to a motor.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Thank you Wicked Lazer, you have burned my dreams with your incredibly lame toy gun. I know see how pointless a gatling lazer is...