Piezo ignition with Arduino

Hi. After almost 24 months, I finally fini--. Was that sentence not complete? YES, JUST LIKE MY PROJECTS. So managed to get a bluetooth car moving with manual transmission :O. But, its not a car, rather its a tank(On wheels). Its sounds weird but it has some sort of project direction.

Tanks are basically cars with guns. I have the car but no gun. Thanks to my science teacher, "Hot things has less density and expands, if you do it rapidly, air would expand rapidly creating high pressure". In general, I used a syringe, pumped some IPA mist and oxygen in, sent a small spark inside the chamber using a piezo igniter from a lighter, then BOOM. It sends a 4.5mm lead projectile at high speeds.

But its manually operated, meaning I used my hands to click the piezo igniter, which is worth mentioning that it takes 2.2kg of force to slap the quartz crystal. I'm not sure if its fine to use those taser black cylinder that generates high voltage, the piezo is good, its works good. But I need to know first if a 9g servo can do the job. Imma attach a rotating cam to click the piezo. Will a servo do as I am expecting?or are there smarter ideas for this?

Kilogram is weight. Force is measured in Newton.
Post a link to the datasheet of the servo. A 9g servo sounds very small.

Sorry, I did the science and calculated around 21 newtons. Thanks for your reply. What servo should I use for this application? I'm also thinking about using a 5v regulator conected directly to the battery instead of 5v pin of the arduino. To avoid torturing it.:grinning:

Make and post schematics. Words like this has large white spots.
Post a photo of the arrangent You have. I have no idea what that servo is spposed to do, how to do it.

This is essentially a weapon, however good the intentions behind it may be. I'd feel very, very uncomfortable contributing to the development of a live weapon on a forum like this.

@anon35827816 don't worry, my first prototype didn't even penetrate 2 sheets of paper.:grinning:

@Railroader I don't have a schematic ready right now. So I will make and send a schematic diagram along with a cad image in about 12 hours. For now I think I need to sleep.:grinning::grinning:

Here. The Vin is connected to 11.1v 18650 batteries. I'm not sure if adding another servo, which would be bigger, be a good idea when it comes to power draws.

Bad idea. Use a 5V stepdown regulator instead of the wimpy on board regulator, and power the Arduino via the 5V pin.

It is a MUCH WORSE idea to power servos from the Arduino 5V output. You will destroy the Arduino doing that.

Hi thanks for your reply. Are you saying I need to stepdown my 11.1v to regulated 5v, then connect that to the arduino 5v?

I'm currently planning to use a 5v regulator because some of my servos are pulsing, and I see the arduino power on light pulsing down low then back up high again.

Ok, but that's your current setup. No guarantees it stays where it is. Although...

sounds like have an inherently safe 'weapon' as it is since it dies gracefully as you attempt to use it. Wouldn't it be nice if all weapons were like that.

The piezo element needs to move "fast" so a servo by-itself isn't going to do it. Plus, a servo is an "angle motor" and probably not what you need. But servos do have a built-in driver circuit so they are easy to use...

I've got a BBQ lighter with a trigger and it "snaps" so you don't have to pull the trigger fast... A servo could probably operate that.

A solenoid (a kind of linear motor) might do the trick. They can move fast over a short distance and they have a fair amount of mass.

You can also look-up how a spark plug gets it's spark. It's the back-EMF using a transformer. You can get a small spark with just a coil. You don't need a transformer.

Or, a cigarette lighter uses a flint.

[quote]pumped some IPA mist[/quote] :smiley: :smiley: One day at work a guy asked me if I had any IPA. I said, "beer???". (India Pale Ale)

Frankly, this is a much more sensible approach than trying to mechanically trigger a piezo element. It has far more potential in terms of a long service life and the possibility of miniaturization.

Yes. The built in regulator is inadequate,overheats and shuts down or dies. Motors and servos should always be powered separately, as they inject high voltage spikes and noise into the power supply.

Wow. Thanks for all your replies​:smile::smile::smile:.

First off, yes, I have zero intention on hurtinh anybody. As a matter of fact, I can alter the nozzle diameter so a nerf bullet could fit in it, an I could piss my cousin who underestimates my projects. Thanks for your concern.:grin::grin::grin:

@DVDdoug I'm actually planning to use a rotating cam, which is like a circle with a shifted center of rotation. It only needs less than 5mm of spring to push down and snap the plastic that's holding up. I've seen BBQ lighters in online shops in my area and they look really big because its like a big red button with 1 meter of wire.:no_mouth::no_mouth:. And yes @anon35827816 I'm planning to make it as small as possible.

I've been searching this up a couple of days ago, I can see mostly the 5v and 6v solenoid, the one with the blue thing inside(I think its the coil). However, I could not find any specific datasheets for that, How could I know if it has enough force to push the piezo igniter. Don't worry about controlling it, I have an l298n driver, one h-bridge A is vacant while h-bridge B is my vehicles motor.
Or I could just hook it up to a mosfet. If I need to Ill buy a mosfet and 5v regulator in my nearest electronic hardware store.:grinning::grinning:

hey hello ,
Now I am doing a project with missile launcher I used piezo ignition but I push the ignition manually
Can you help How to connect this to Arduino

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