Has something like this ever been created? Ie, instead of having a gas or blowback system, have a "single shot" that has some sort of robotic reloading system. For instance, you put the trigger, the round is fired, and an electronic system manually cycles the round.

Presuming you don't mean something like a minigun or elecrically-driven beltfed, then the ones I know of are auto-loaded tank and vessel cannons.

I don't offhand know of it being done for small arms.

Timing could be an issue, wouldn't want the electronic circuit to open the bolt when pressure is too high. Not to mention battery life, weight, ect.

There are several problems with abandoning recoil as your mechanism for powering the cycling of the weapon.

1) Recoil is "free" in that it is an inherent property of firing the weapon.  That energy/momentum has to go somewhere, and using it to cycle the firearm is a low-cost, high benefit process.  Adding some electronic method would require a power source (battery), as well as some type of motor and associated mechanism to actually carry out the cycling.  This adds weight, complexity, weight, more systems to fail, and don't forget, WEIGHT.

2) The cycling of a slide absorbs and spreads out the impulse of the firing cartridge, reducing felt recoil and the shock on the frame.  Switching to a separate method of cycling the weapon means that you are going to subject the body of the firearm and the hand/arm of the shooter to a sharper recoil.  This will cause faster wear on the firearm (fatigue cracking, etc) and more discomfort and fatigue on the part of the shooter.

Mike

Or you can just build a motorized multi-barrel (a Gatling gun grown high tech) like a mini gun.

Would it be possible to "use" the gas indirectly? I could envision a piston were the gas tube would be. Perhaps that gas can be used as a passive way to charge an internal battery. I was thinking something similar to cmmgs delayed blowback setup; have a chip tuned to open the chamber at the most optimal time that would mitigate the recoil. Of course weight is an issue, but I'd imagine abandoning the gas system would remove the need for a lot of the reciprocating mass. You could also design the piston itself to be lightweight, although I'm sure that would drive up the cost. There would also be the fear of the chip potentially failing, or being vulnerable to environmental issues. These issues would probably need to be addressed, especially if used in the field. I know there are pump action ars out there, so I was thinking the mechanics could potentially mimic this setup

Adding additional parts is rarely a way to create reliability.

A mechanical pressure interlock would be the way to ensure the breach was not opened under pressure. All airlocks have a similar design feature so that a press of a button doesn’t decompress where you are.

IIRR any electronicly driven action is considered a machine gun per atf. Reasoning it is too easy to convert it to automatic fire. Would be cool to see ideas that would go into production if that weren't the case though.