DIY Nerf Tank Now 'Leaves Welts'

The project's creator, Joshua Clay, documented that the remote-controlled tank shoots hard enough to leave welts even through a sweatshirt. This unexpected power led him to consider downgrading the blaster for safety. This new version is an evolution of his previous "Nerfbot," featuring a more compact design that swaps wheels for a tracked platform. The tank uses a readily available and inexpensive tracked chassis, allowing the builder to focus on the more complex custom components. Control is handled by a standard PlayStation 4 controller paired via Bluetooth to an RP2040 microcontroller, a popular and affordable option for DIY robotics projects. This setup manages the tank's movement and the pan-and-tilt mechanism of the dart launcher. The dart launching system utilizes a pair of flywheels to grip and propel the darts from a high-capacity magazine. This flywheel method is a common approach in both commercial Nerf blasters and the DIY modding community for achieving high rates of fire and velocity. A key design philosophy for the tank was modularity, inspired by LEGO, to make maintenance and future iterations easier. The glue-free assembly allows for accessible wiring and simple swapping of components, a feature Clay intends to leverage for future additions like a camera.