Laser pointer, sharp bladed pointy things, and just pull the trigger. Not something that I’d want to have the north end of such a device pointing at me. Or as the post says: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should,”.
Actually, I’m kinda glad it was done: “impressively terrifying”.
Once you learn to hit a target with an arrow, hitting it again from varying angles and distances is relatively easy with some minor aim adjustments. That’s not the case when throwing knives. Added spin is needed to give the knife enough kinetic energy to embed itself into a target, with a specific number of rotations needed to ensure its sharp tip hits the target first, not the flat side or blunt handle. If you’ve ever been axe throwing, you’ll know what we’re talking about.
As with many other talented makers and hardware hackers on YouTube, Quint decided that brute force engineering was a better alternative to diligent practice, so they created a handheld launcher that uses high-performance servo motors, solenoids, custom 3D-printed components, and some heavy batteries to hurl throwing knives with the right amount of spin so they hit the mark and stick every single time. To allow the launcher to work from varying distances, the launcher even employs a LiDAR sensor that’s used to measure how far away the target is and adjust its green targeting laser appropriately.
Yeah, that’sadmirekills (hardware? What do I want with hardware??) but I do have admiration for folks that can do that kind of engineering.
(H/T: Gizmodo)
