So our 7th-grade robotics class has a competition with popsicle sticks, hot glue, and a plastic spoon. The competition is to see how far you can launch a ping pong ball. We are going to make a flywheel and a trebuchet, but are unsure of where to go (We get to use vex parts v5 (Not IQ) because we are special
ed) (No offense)
Well, if you can use rubber bands, you can probably just load it with a motor. Not in IQ so I haven’t really thought about catapults in like 80 years
Alright, we will do this and look into those instructions.
I suggest using a flywheel gun. Trebuchets can be great, but require lots of weight and precise timing. Most importantly, the weight of the projectile is what balances the system and carries the momentum. If you can get flywheels going, and have some sort of grippy covering, you could feed a ping pong ball in and watch it fly. You could either use or horizontal set up, similar to a crossbow layout, or have a vertical set up. Utilizing a vertical set up would allow you to take advantage of the Magnus effect, where a projectile changes course as it travels because of a spin. “How Ridiculous” on youtube has some great videos showcasing this effect. If you give the bottom of your ping pong ball an extra kick, it will curve upwards as it travels. I think that could be a winner.
right now we have a flywheel gun. We were gonna do a trebuchet, but it was too hard.
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