Vex Over Under Catapult

[Turbo_Nissan1]

I need ideas for an easy-to-build catapult that launches tri-balls. I have 2 and a half hours to complete and test before a skills challenge. Can someone give me a design that meets this criteria?

[Micahy321]

PSA to new forum users v2

Its that time of year again: the start of a new season. Consequently, many new people are joining robotics clubs across the world and thus vex forum. This is great, as the goal for RECF is to have as many students involved in robotics as possible. We welcome new users into the community, but there a couple of things you need to know. Don’t ask people for robot ideas. There are lots of threads that already discuss this. You can find these with the search bar. You can also give YouTube a search t…

I am sorry about your predicament. Remember that many teams have gotten successful skills runs without a catapult.

I don’t think I can give you a design to build in a couple of hours, as I’ve been working on mine for days.

[Turbo_Nissan1]

Also can you explain in simple terms. I am new to vex robotics. I am trying to be more experienced and learn your ideas.

[40994B_Atomic_Nuke]

You can just use vertical flywheels and set the triballs on top, best for skills but can work for matches+its really easy and can be made fast

[CeleryStick]

A very easy puncher can be built in around 30 min. It’s very simple and takes up much less space than a full cata. You can search up vex over under puncher and take ideas from it.

[Ethan-52274X]

For a simple catapult i would recommend using a slip gear like this:
connected to the motor and a regular gear with an arm attached to it. Rubber bands on the arm could pull up a catapult when the teeth do not touch the slip gear. It requires a lot of torque, so I recommend a red cartridge motor.

I found this very helpful when building my first catapult:https://wiki.purduesigbots.com/hardware/shooting-mechanisms/catapult

[Turbo_Nissan1]

yeah, I’ll try that… seems simple but how do you do it vertically