The Hacksmith How Do You Power a Lightsaber?

2017-06-02 | By The Hacksmith

License: See Original Project

The lightsaber has been an icon in pop culture since 1977 when the first Star Wars movie came out (Yes, we know it is technically Episode 4). Ever since then, people all over the world have been trying to make their own lightsaber replicas. Although many people have made beautiful lightsabers with LEDs, we have yet to see a functional saber that can actually cut things.

There are two primary reasons for mankind’s inability to make a lightsaber. One: Nobody knows how to make a beam of energy that conveniently stops after three feet. Two: How do you fit that much power into something as small as a lightsaber hilt? Unfortunately, we don’t have Kyber crystals like in the Star Wars Universe. The Hacksmith team left the three foot energy beam to physicists, but they decided to tackle the power supply. See their attempt at a lightsaber power supply in the video below!

Since a power source small enough to fit inside a lightsaber does not exist yet, the team decided to take the same route that the Jedi and Sith did, by making a Protosaber! In Star Wars lore, the original lightsabers were powered by a pack that is attached to the saber’s hilt with a cord. With the size issue solved, the next step was to make a power supply that could handle the power required to actually cut things!

  WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE: Do Not Attempt  

Before we get any further into how the power supply circuit works, a safety warning is in order. While most Hacksmith contraptions are dangerous to some degree, the amount of power required for this project merits additional warning. Should you ever attempt a similar project, you will want to do so with the help of a certified electrical safety compliance professional, and even then, you probably should not attempt something like this.

With that out of the way, let’s see how it works!

Schematic

The lightsaber is powered by 20 24 volt Lithium Polymer batteries. In order to regulate 200 kilowatts of power, enough voltage to three North American homes, a power supply was constructed. This power supply is controlled by an ATMEGA328P-MUR microcontroller that sends electricity through 11 N-Channel MOSFETs in parallel. The channeled electricity flows into a Tungsten rod that becomes red hot (Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals).

That is a lot of batteries

Unfortunately, as you likely saw in the video, this power supply circuit still wasn’t enough to contain the power supplied by the batteries, which resulted in the circuit getting fried after being overloaded “just a little bit”.

The aftermath

Fortunately, thanks to the help of a trusty chemical fire extinguisher, the pricey batteries were saved! It’s now back to the drawing board with a redesign of the power supply with beefed up safety features so the new model can successfully cut the things suggested by commenters without burning the place down. Have any ideas for the redesigned power supply? Let us know in the comments! You can also suggest things for the new lightsaber to cut in the Youtube comments. And while you’re at it, you can subscribe to the Hacksmith VLOGs channel for a chance to watch James get himself blown up in real time!

制造商零件编号 ATMEGA328P-MUR

IC MCU 8BIT 32KB FLASH 32VQFN

Microchip Technology

¥22.66

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制造商零件编号 IXTN600N04T2

MOSFET N-CH 40V 600A SOT227B

Littelfuse Inc.

¥292.09

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