FluxGrip and non-ferromagnetic payloads

FluxGrip is a magnetic system and thus requires a ferromagnetic surface to attach to. However, one should not be under the impression that this disqualifies non-ferromagnetic payloads: any arbitrary payload can be carried, as long as one uses an attachment piece. To illustrate this point, I will outline how one can attach a standard plastic bottle (chosen as a safer alternative to mortar rounds) to the FluxGrip.

Solution 1: Glue ferromagnetic surface to water bottle

The obvious solution is to simply glue a piece of metal to the payload and use that to attach to the magnet. A simple illustration:

easy-peasy960×1280 94.3 KB

The only real downsides to this solution is that:

1. It requires messing with each single payload.
2. Every time one drops a payload, one will need to either retrieve the metal target plate, or buy a new one: they’re cheap, but depending on the quantity of payloads we’re talking this could start to add up.

Solution 2: Use an attachment piece

There is a cleaner solution: relying on an attachment piece that is used to hold the payload while the magnet is active, and that releases the payload once the magnet has been deactivated. Internally, we call this solution the “TeslaClaw”.

The TeslaClaw consists of 2 3D-printed pieces which are held together by the magnet, in turn the TeslaClaw holds the payload. Here is what it looks like when the magnet is active:

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Once the magnet deactivates, the TeslaClaw falls apart into two pieces and the payload is released:

teslaclaw-deactive960×1280 94.2 KB

The metal plate, which is glued to the 3D-printed piece, provides the necessary ferromagnetic surface for the FluxGrip to attach to.

To see this in action, please take a look at the following video:

CAD files

If you’re interested in replicating the above, I’ve done all the 3D modelling in FreeCAD.

TeslaClaw

image2132×2066 134 KB

tesla_claw_v2.FCStd (190.1 KB)

Note: The pieces are symmetrical, so they can always be matched.

2x2 FluxGrip holder

This piece is used to hold 4 FluxGrips, in addition to having slots that can be used to secure the TeslaClaw pieces (so they don’t drop together with the payload).

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magnet_holder_v4.FCStd (198.0 KB)