DIY Recoil Action
Goal here to add the sensation of recoil to a prop rifle gun. I have seen it done with compressed air and motor pistons, but neither are easily synchronized with electronics and capable of rapid firings for full auto fire. Leaves me with the third option of using a solenoid. To fire a solenoid with enough furiosity to kick the gun into your shoulder involves some serious power requirements.
I did a dry run yesterday and came up with this circuit. The solenoid is rated 12-24V and 3 lbs force. Using the circuit below it was weak at 18V, fully actuated at 27V, and actually had some kick at 36V. I am not sure I want to take it higher.
The next step is to design a circuit to use a lower battery voltage. Three C cells should be sufficient. The 4.5V from the battery would be stepped up and charged across the capacitor. The control circuit would be connected to the solenoid circuit through a optoisolator and a mosfet.