Design Help

Intro

I run an Airsoft club that promotes & hosts airsoft events in the Pacifc NW. If your unfamiliar with airsoft, it's much like paintball, just cleaner & most cost effective. We use props in our events to enhance the experience for all that come out. With field restrictions getting tighter we have found ourselves building props that are electronic instead of pyrotechnic. This leaves us with having some great ideas, but no knowledge on how to go about some of the things we want to do.

Question

We want to build a boobytrap device that opens electronically. The best way I can explain it is, imagine a box with TWO hinging doors. The doors will be spring activated to open. Attached to the doors is basically a parachute full of pellets that are catapulted out as the doors fly open.

We want these doors to have a latching device of some type, that by electronic remote, can be released to open the doors.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Much of the challenge in this is mechanical and for that you need to be clever with the materials and tools that are available. As for the electrical part that is used to trigger the doors to open, you should keep it simple and easy to understand to start with. Later on, when everything is working, upgrades to more sophistication are possible. But in the meantime, consider using simple electrical parts including 12V power supply from an automotive battery, 12V relays for control and perhaps a solenoid or trunk release from a car to actually release the doors. Run a pair of wires from the control location to the trap door assembly, don't consider fancy wireless controls at this point. By scrounging car electrical parts you will automatically get items that are designed to operate with 12Volts, which is handy. Perhaps a visit to the auto wrecker to dig up an electrical trunk release mechanism?

Thanks, great ideas. I hadn't thought of trunk release. Genius.