Sam Barros' PowerLabs!

Welcome to Sam Barros' PowerLabs!

10Kilojoule Capacitor

Hello, and welcome! My name is Sam Barros and this is my webpage, an 8 year effort at documenting some of the various experiments and research I have worked on in different fields of science and technology.
Here you will find detailed reports including descriptions, pictures, videos, diagrams, schematics and technical data on experiments and devices designed and built by myself over the years, including Tesla coils and other various types of high voltage generators, plasma globes, electromagnetic experiments, coil guns, rail guns, lasers, rockets, turbines, electromagnetic propulsion, EMP, HERF, cryogenics, chemistry and much more! Feel free to browse around.
To learn more about me, click the "about" section. The main page contains all the news, and you may follow the links above and below to access all the sub pages.

Current Updates:

April 11 2008: Here I am, on the road again...

Wow, its been a while since the last update! I spent the last 7 months or so working at kVA Effects in California on various projects, including the 2 largest Tesla Coils ever built (2 massive structures, each one consuming 150kVA and throwing out a predicted 60ft long lightning bolt). With my work at kVA completed, I now find myself driving across the country once again, this time to New York, where I will be spending the weekend before settling down in New Jersey, my new work place, where I will be researching Alternative Fuels.
Here are the travel plans:

April 11th: Las Vegas, NV
April 12th: Denver, CO
April 13th: Chicago, IL
April 14th - April 17th: Detroit, MI. I will be attending the SAE International Symposium during those dates.
April 18th: New York, NY

Of course, a trip like this requires a fitting car... I will be driving my new 2006 Corvette, now tuned to produce somewhere in the vicinity of 465 Horsepower. That kind of power in a rear wheel drive sportscar might make the Colorado mountan pass a bit less fun and relaxing than I would hope for, but overall I am expecting a good 40 hours or so of pure driving enjoyment in a world class sportscar!

Speaking of cars... I have put together a new web titled: PowerLabs Cars! I apologize that it is not the usual new and exciting science content you have come to expect from this page, but I think you will find my experiences modifying cars interesting even if you are not a car guy... There is as much science involved in extracting over 100hp/l from an engine as there is in firing a Railgun!
Look forward to many new and exciting updates in the near future!

October: The PowerLabs YouTube Channel!

Hope you like the regular updates; I plan on keeping it that way now that I'm finally out of school...
PowerLabs YouTube Channel is now up:

http://www.youtube.com/powerlabs

Not sure what I will be doing with it in the future; if you have any suggestions, do let me know. For now it is a mixture of old and new, never before seen content... Like the railgun firing! Enjoy!

September: Rail Gun fires again...

Finally got around to shooting RailGun 2.0 again. It worked very well!
I updated the Rail Gun page with more pictures and explanations.

June: PowerLabs Welcomes its newest Sponsor:

TRINITY CHEMICAL SUPPLY: Looking for hard to find chemicals for your laboratory / science fair experiment / Metal etching/electrolysis/etc? Trinity carries virtually everything you could hope for! Check them out, and tell them PowerLabs sent you; it just might pay for my web hosting!

March 2007: Graduated!

Yes, I have finally graduated! Not that going to college wasn't interesting, but its been long enough and I really want to start working and put my education and skills towards something a little more productive than homework...
I would also like to, once again, thank my parents, Ms. and Mr. Barros, who paid for all of my schooling. Being an International student I never got any scholarships so this diploma cost them a lot of hard earned money. It was entirely thanks to them that I could get my degree, and for that I am forever grateful. Thanks again!

This of course begs the question: Now what? I am happy to say that I have gotten numerous very interesting job offers, however none of them are on paper yet, so for the time being I am spending the first half of the summer at the University taking some technical elective classes (that I needed to fulfill the requirements for my degree but could not fit in with my schedule during spring) and doing what I enjoy the most: continuing my electromagnetic acceleration research. There is still time to make me a job offer if you think you could use someone with my skills and abilities in your company ;)

December:

I put together a Job Portfolio for a school assignment, and figured I might as well put it online, since I am looking for a job (graduating May 2007)

October: Back from India:
Just got back from working with KVA Effects in a show in India.

Check out the Turbo BMW page!

August: Watch PowerLabs on your TV!

If you were in Australia, you got to see Channel 9's "What's Good For You" on Monday the 14th of August, at 7.30 pm. Beyond Productions sent a film crew up to my "lab" and filmed a spectacular episode for the show. The episode was on microwaves and we had a BLAST... Literally!
You can watch the episode here.

July: Prepare to be amazed!

(Photo by Kelly Drews Photography �)

What happens if you discharge 9000Joules through a watermelon in the form of a 9thousand volt, half million ampere discharge? The picture above is a preview. More to come!

June: Directed Energy research!

Thanks to a generous donation from Robert Brown, I now have Laser optics! Here is a picture of what the output of the laser does to polycarbonate when focused into a spot less than 1mm in diameter: The plasma that forms is so bright I have to wear brazing goggles!

Check out the PowerLabs Laser page for pictures. Videos coming soon!

The microwave gun is back: By popular demand... Since this was such a popular project, I hereby present you the new microwave gun: 30degree beam dispersion, 2kW power input... The page will be up soon.

April: New York International Auto Show!

The KVA Effects stunt for the Mercedes Benz Premiere at the New York International Auto Show was spectacular! Congratulations to Jeff and all the KVA crew who made this possible; it was an honor working with you guys!

January: More Electromagnetic Acceleration Research...

If you've e-mailed me recently and I haven't gotten back to you, your e-mail has probably been lost. I switched computers and was away from my e-mail for several weeks so now I have over one thousand e-mail messages, a lot of which are spam. If I haven't replied to you please write again.

Work continues on the PowerLabs Electro-Thermal Gun, the only one of its kind online!
Railgun2: I have decided to hold off on the first firing videos until the Discovery Channel episode about it airs.

Valveless Pulsejet powered boat coming soon (project completed, waiting for test videos)

What am I working on now?

This webpage is currently being redesigned to an easier to navigate format.
ElectroThermalGun: Has been fired!
The New PowerLabs Rail Gun (2.0) has been fired!
The PowerLabs LASER. Works great!
The High Efficiency Coil Gun Prototype has been fired and is now being chronographed and fine tuned for maximum efficiency.
Subaru Performance: Another engine swap done!

The future:

- The Rail Gun Is done, it works, it could be better. I want to build a 3rd railgun incorporating all new techniques that I couldn't afford to before; a pulse shaping network, more stored energy, external field augmentation... This will of course take money... Why not donate?

- I am working on a new type of coilgun that has never been tried before.

- All parts have been gathered for a 450kV Marx Generator and the 1MW Nitrogen pulsed LASER, these projects are on queue after the Rail Gun research.
- Future topics should include Electrostatic Propulsion (Lifters), more Rocket Engines and others, as time and money permits. As always, suggestions, money and sponsorships are very welcome :)

Mail:

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail me: I can read and reply e-mails in English, Portuguese, French or Spanish. (Note: Due to the large amount of e-mail I receive any requests for plans/schematics will usually be ignored. Any plans I intend on distributing are made available through this site.)

Categories:

The PowerLabs Message Board: Got questions? We have got answers! Join a growing community of hobbyists and science enthusiasts who visit this site and get help on any scientific or technical topic from myself many other knowledgeable members. Please be sure to read the board rules before you join.

Electro Magnetic Weapons:

PowerLabs Electromagnetic Weapons Research!
See energy being harnessed in its most spectacular forms: Rail Guns, Coil Guns, Gauss Guns, Disk Shooters, Microwave Experiments, Microwave Gun, Electro Thermal Guns, ETC guns, LASERs, and anything else using electricity to produce hazardous levels of kinetic energy or electromagnetic radiation.

General Science Experiments:

PowerLabs General Science Experiments:
Various experiments on the fields of Cryogenics, Alternative Fuels Research, Engine Research, Homebuilt Cannons, Rocket Engines, Turbocharger Turbines, and more!

ChemLabs:

Sam Barros' Chemlabs! PowerLabs Chemistry division; Several experiments demonstrating the more spectacular aspects of chemistry, mainly through highly energetic materials such as hypergols, deflagrants, rocket propellants, high and low explosives. Current list includes: Nitrocellulose, Nitro Starch, Nitro Mannitol, Picric Acid, Styphnic Acid, Mercury Fulminate, Silver Acetylide, Lead Picrate, Lead Styphnate, Potassium Picrate, Potassium Styphnate, Sodium Peroxide, Copper Carbide, Potassium Permanganate, Lead Oxalate, Potassium Chlorate and other spectacular chemistry demonstrations.

High Voltage:

PowerLabs Twin Tesla Coils arcing on a table top.

PowerLabs High Voltage Page! Various successful experimental designs for high voltage generators such as Tesla Coils, Ignition Coil and Flyback Drivers, Plasma Globes, Electromagnetic Can Crushers, Induction Heating, Electrostatic Generators, Voltage Multipliers, Marx Generators, Water Atomization By Electrical Discharge, and many other fascinating experiments dealing with High Voltages.

About:

Sam Barros Receiving an International Science Award.

About PowerLabs and Sam Barros: Who I am, what this page stands for, why it was created, my hobbies, sports, ideals and regrets my TV appearances, newspaper articles and some photos and awards I have received, as well as awards this web page has received.

Sponsors: Find out who made and continues to make PowerLabs possible, and help me make PowerLabs grow by visiting my sponsors!
Links: Related sites you should be aware off.
Fan mail / Hate mail: Coming soon (replacing the old Guestbook). E-mail me anything you'd like published on this site. Names and e-mail addresses removed at request for your privacy.

POWERLABS is a proud member of the following Web Rings:

Copyright � 1999 - 2007 by Sam Barros. All rights reserved.
Removing any material from this site for display without consent from its author consists in an infringement of international copyright laws and can result in fines up to $50000 plus legal costs per infringement.