How should Ben continue building his automatic can crusher? Post your idea + you might get a free Ben Heck t-shirt!

Pneumatic cylinders are great for something like this. The electromagnetic ram can work but it really needs to have a tight tolerance betwwen the plunger and the coil. Better yet If the coil is seperated into many segments and the plunger is actually a rare earth magnet then you could control the series of coils to rapidly accelerate the plunger/magnet. The same concept is used in rails guns. The control is not easy as you have to switch the high currents very quickly and in a manner that will sequence the electromagnetic force so that it will properly accelerate the projectile. Some feedback sensing to help in the control would be required to do it effectivly. Yeah a rail gun can crusher would be a significant step up in cool.

A method of crushing cans while also stimulating people to get excercise and relieve stress woudl be to have a hopper attached to a modified "Bash the gopher" machine.

Once the machine had collected enough cans for a game it would start flashing and playing music.

Everyone would cheer and haul themselves off the couch to lumber over to the machine and then they would discuss who was going first, stimulating healthy conversation amongst the family members.

Once Dad had decided he would go first , he would take the mallet in his hand and the machine would pop cans randomly out of the holes on the top of the playing surface and he would bash away as the family cheer and offer advice.

Each member of the family would take turns until all the cans were flat and they would all smile at each other and offer hearty congratulations or mock teasing as they returned to their TV, tired but happy.

TRM

A method of crushing cans while also stimulating people to get excercise and relieve stress woudl be to have a hopper attached to a modified "Bash the gopher" machine.

Once the machine had collected enough cans for a game it would start flashing and playing music.

Everyone would cheer and haul themselves off the couch to lumber over to the machine and then they would discuss who was going first, stimulating healthy conversation amongst the family members.

Once Dad had decided he would go first , he would take the mallet in his hand and the machine would pop cans randomly out of the holes on the top of the playing surface and he would bash away as the family cheer and offer advice.

Each member of the family would take turns until all the cans were flat and they would all smile at each other and offer hearty congratulations or mock teasing as they returned to their TV, tired but happy.

TRM