Lund Technologys - LVVWS

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor.
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mobile chernobyl
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I ran a search on this here, and it was only briefly mentioned in the VARGAS thread.

Fairly interesting concept they have here - maybe not on the chemistry side of things, but they have a very nice implementation of a semi-automatic combustion gun at least!

For those that haven't heard of it yet - the LVVWS, or Lund Variable Velocity Weapons System is a gun that seemingly just use electrolysis to "split" water and provide a variable amount of propellant to a projectile which is in most cases - a rubber bullet. They are advertising this on the basis that it can be a less-than-lethal weapon, and instantly convert to a, well lethal weapon?

take a look on their website for yourself!
http://lundtechnologies.com/products.html

and a patent:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7254914.pdf

Image

Interesting... :idea:

One possible benefit of the electrolysis is that it supplies both the oxidizer and fuel, so venting the combustion chamber may not be as much of an issue... (although looking through the patent, it seems they address the exhaust gasses)

Another benefit of electrolysis is that it can power a small onboard fuel cell, which can then perform even more electrolysis and it will never need batteries! PM MACHINE!!!! [/boyntonstu talk]

Just so everyone is clear - the fact that it uses "browns gas" or whatever you want to call it is not the interesting part (although using onboard electrolysis is clever!), the fact that it is a repeatable self-contained unit is!
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MrCrowley
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mobile chernobyl wrote:Another benefit of electrolysis is that it can power a small onboard fuel cell, which can then perform even more electrolysis and it will never need batteries! PM MACHINE!!!! [/boyntonstu talk]
[youtube][/youtube]

:D
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Odd.

I mean, a 12 gauge with a box magazine (Saiga 12 or similar) can be non-lethal or VERY lethal with just a swap of a magazine. And that's a proven, reliable, cheap system.

What's the advantage of the LVVWS over something like that?
Simulation geek (SDT/GGDT/HGDT) and designer of Vera.
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mobile chernobyl
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D_Hall wrote:Odd.

I mean, a 12 gauge with a box magazine (Saiga 12 or similar) can be non-lethal or VERY lethal with just a swap of a magazine. And that's a proven, reliable, cheap system.

What's the advantage of the LVVWS over something like that?
Very true, and much less to go wrong, a simple jam can easily be field serviceable. However you don't want to be in the thick of the action and think, "oh no, I'm almost out of water!" or "my batteries are almost dead!" or some other comical situation you might get yourself into with a portable electrolysis unit.
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irisher
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Most auto-shotguns dont work with less than lethal ammo.
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mobile chernobyl
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irisher wrote:Most auto-shotguns dont work with less than lethal ammo.
Not enough gas generated from them for the auto-loading mechanism? makes sense.
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hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:You're better off hanging an FN303 under the barrel of your assault rifle.
Are you? :wink:
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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MrCrowley wrote:Are you? :wink:
Yes, I have no interest in baseball :D
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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What's the advantage of the LVVWS over something like that
Answer:
With the incorporation of an automatic range finder, the velocity can be automatically varied to ensure efficacy and safety.
don't ask me if it is practical or better than existing system... they already have real assault rifles with real bullets, which are pretty damn good crowd dispersal weapons :D
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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POLAND_SPUD wrote:With the incorporation of an automatic range finder, the velocity can be automatically varied to ensure efficacy and safety.
TheDaystate Mk.4already has a built in chrony that regulates the strength of the solenoid hammer based on the velocity of the previous shot.

I don't suppose it's a great technological leap to also hook it up to a digital rangefinder and adjust velocity accordingly, though then you've altered the trajectory so you would also need to hook it up to a digital sight that would (maybe through augmented reality) also change the crosshair.

At the end of the day, seems like quite a bit of money and effort to spend on not injuring hippies...
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:At the end of the day, seems like quite a bit of money and effort to spend on not injuring hippies...

Hmmm...how'd my coffee suddenly end up on the monitor screen? :lol:

That IS priceless. :wink:

Edited for shpelunk
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mobile chernobyl
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jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:
At the end of the day, seems like quite a bit of money and effort to spend on not injuring hippies...
LOL :D

Barrett has a slightly more lethal form of the optical range finder, but it doesn't control the power, it does make suggestions on the round to use though. The shooter is left to make the sighting adjustments...
http://www.gunblast.com/Barrett-BORS.htm
Last edited by mobile chernobyl on Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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:D :D :D
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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mobile chernobyl wrote:They are advertising this on the basis that it can be a less-than-lethal weapon, and instantly convert to a, well lethal weapon?

I witnessed a demo of the LVVWS late last year at Nellis AFB. IMO, it has 2 modes. It can escalate from "slightly annoying" at close range to "mildly annoying" at close range. I suppose it could be "lethal"..... if one held it by the muzzle, swinging it wildly like a baseball bat. Self-promoting articles should be viewed with caution.
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