Two Sandia National Laboratories engineers - and hunters - have developed a dart-like, self-guided bullet accurate over a distance of a mile.
Red Jones and Brian Kast say their bullet is suitable for small-caliber, smooth-bore firearms, and are looking for a private partner to complete testing of the prototype and launch it commercially.
The design for the four-inch-long bullet includes an optical sensor in the nose to detect a laser beam on a target. The sensor sends information to guidance and control electronics that use an algorithm in an eight-bit central processing unit to command electromagnetic actuators. These actuators steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.
While rifling keeps most bullets straight through spinning, the Sandia bullet flies straight due to its aerodynamically stable design, which consists of a center of gravity that sits forward in the projectile and tiny fins that enable it to fly without spin like a dart.
Computer aerodynamic modeling shows dramatic improvements in accuracy. Where an unguided bullet under real-world conditions could miss a target more than a half mile away by 9.8 yards, the guided bullet would get within eight inches.
Plastic sabots provide a gas seal in the cartridge and protect the delicate fins until they drop off after the bullet emerges from the firearm
Red Jones and Brian Kast say their bullet is suitable for small-caliber, smooth-bore firearms, and are looking for a private partner to complete testing of the prototype and launch it commercially.
The design for the four-inch-long bullet includes an optical sensor in the nose to detect a laser beam on a target. The sensor sends information to guidance and control electronics that use an algorithm in an eight-bit central processing unit to command electromagnetic actuators. These actuators steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.
While rifling keeps most bullets straight through spinning, the Sandia bullet flies straight due to its aerodynamically stable design, which consists of a center of gravity that sits forward in the projectile and tiny fins that enable it to fly without spin like a dart.
Computer aerodynamic modeling shows dramatic improvements in accuracy. Where an unguided bullet under real-world conditions could miss a target more than a half mile away by 9.8 yards, the guided bullet would get within eight inches.
Plastic sabots provide a gas seal in the cartridge and protect the delicate fins until they drop off after the bullet emerges from the firearm