About the Project/Introduction

The Project

The project that's been assigned to this engineering section was to design and fabricate a catapult. This catapult has to fulfill the task of launching various projectiles, one being fragile cargo, to a certain place at a variety of certain distances (far, short, etc.). The challenge of this problem is the fact that the fragile cargo must land without being compromised and the distance is unknown to us until the day of the launch.

The task at hand is to design a catapult that will have improved precision, accuracy, and distance that will launch a racket ball at an unknown distance and hard-boiled egg into our own synthesized foam.

The Plan

Our group decided the best plan for this task was to use a trebuchet. The trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a counter-weighted lever arm and has a sling to hold the payload.

The advantage of this design over other catapults is the improved range and accuracy. Because of the sling, the trebuchet is able to release the payload at a more optimal trajectory and higher speed that significantly improve the machine's throwing range and accuracy.

Not only does the trebuchet have improved range, but, as mentioned previously, it also has better accuracy than a mangonel catapult. This is because of the fact that it uses gravity (which is constant, a) to create the energy required to launch its payload. On the other hand, catapults used springs or sort of elastic to launch its payload which could become inconsistent and require adjustments between launches. Another factor is that uses the properties/physics of a fulcrum, which is easier (for the most part) to adjust and manipulate.