pumpkin launcher

[weezergirl]

tips???

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i dont have any clue what this is, but i do know that i want one.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: weezergirl
tips???

Fashion it after a trebuchet.

 

[crab]

No, but I do have a potato gun sitting right next to me.

 

[Sondao]

I have to build one for my engineering class At OU, the goal is to knock down a castle a little less then half a mile away? most people are going to build air powered cannons but I heard that none of the teams managed to hit the castle last year. We are also allowed to build a remote control vehicle but I does anyone know how I would launch a pumpkin off of it ?! if anyone has any ideas please please help me!!!

 

[TonyG]

Well, we built a trebuchet that launched a 12lb bowling ball approximately 300yards, with about 900lbs of counterweight in the basket.
It worked pretty well, until the steel release ring caught on the throwing arm and part of the electric winch cable, turning the 1/4 inch thick steel ring into an oval, and causing the the throwing arm to break on the short end. We had about 1500lb of weight in the basket when this happened, and the pipe, 5 inch diameter, snapped about 4 feet from the point at which the basket was hung off of.

Here is a picture from the local paper, off course they did not get much of the information about it correct, but what is to be expected.
Trebuchet