catapult project
Towards the beginning of the semester, we completed a project that included complex designs of modernized catapults. This project was connected between math and art. In Ms.Vee's class we studied projectile motion along with, horizontal and vertical displacement and other sub-concepts. In Mr. Sevilla's class we practiced the process of design and creation by making sketches, blueprints, and prototypes then eventually the final catapult. I worked with Liana, Zoha, and Isaiah. In the beginning we expressed many ideas and multiple ways to go about building it. We had a couple sketches but decided that hands on would be the best way to see what works and doesn't for our prototype. Our original prototype was similar to a trebuchet. There was weights at one end of the arm and the bowl at the other end that rotated on a fulcrum. We made it out of materials found in the classroom, most of them recycled. The base was made out of an egg carton and the arm supports were made out of foam core. To make the lever arm we used cardboard and foam core. The cardboard had a unique structure on the inside so we fed a toothpick through it to create the fulcrum. We used half a ping pong ball for the bowl. Below are some pictures of our prototype.
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saiah also created a few prototypes of his own including one that incorporated the use of a mouse trap and spring suspension. Along with creating our prototype we had to make concept drawings to express our ideas and visions. Mr. Sevilla taught us about point perspective drawing so we practiced that with these images. Here are my drawings, we had to do three different angles so I chose top, front, and side. |
After making our concept drawing and prototype we had to make a scale drawing of what our final catapult would be including accurate measurements. Our plan changed a lot from the beginning ideation phase to the building process. Our scale drawing was very accurate to our final catapult. Our success in our group, was our drawings. They were easy to read and understand the concept we were trying to express.
We started by making a foundation/base for our catapult and then added and changed different components so it would work better. We had a pallet as the base structure with wheels on the bottom so it could roll. We added arms extending vertically from the pallet and then had PVC pipe going through it as the fulcrum with another piece of wood attached for the lever. At the end of the lever arm, we used an old spoon strainer cooking object. It had a gradual slope and we thought it would work well to launch the baseball (but we ended up being wrong). We used eyelit screw hooks in the wood to attach a bungee cord from the back of the base to the front of the bottom of the lever for suspension. At first we didn't have a stopper, so the launching arm would be pulled back then let go and would rotate all the way around and slam into the front of the wood. We attached a stopper made from two wood arms screwed to the sides with a bungee going across. It only slowed the arm down at the end so it wouldn't his the wood, it didn't change the releasing point but then we realized that we actually needed to move the stopping point and change the releasing point. We added a piece of wood across the side arms so the lever arm would not go past a 90 degree angle. It worked fairly well but we faced my challenges with the tension and suspension. We did not have as much power as needed to launch the baseball a far distance. In the end, we had a decent design but lacked accuracy in the details. Below is a link to see our catapult launch.
CLICK HERE to see a video of our catapult in the middle of the building phase and CLICK HERE to see a video of our catapult on the final launch day
CLICK HERE to see a video of our catapult in the middle of the building phase and CLICK HERE to see a video of our catapult on the final launch day
Looking back on this project, I feel we incorporated certain aspects of the Design Thinking Methods but not all of them and it definitely effected our final outcome. I think, as a group, we struggled most with the ideation and prototyping steps. In the beginning, we didn't take the time to work out and communicate as a group what our ideas and thoughts were. We never really had a clear image of what our catapult was going to be like even going into the building phase. Our prototype was not a very realistic representation of what we wanted to do for our final product, we simply made it because we had to. Despite not planning well in the beginning and having poor communication, I think Zoha and I did a great job testing and revising our design until it worked. We made a lot of changes in a short period of time and each one improved our product. We changed the suspension and stopping angles multiple times along with the way it released. If we had one more week, I think we could of made an even better catapult and improved it a lot more. If I was able to do this project again, I would have spent more time in the beginning planning and have a precise image of what we were going to build from the start. I also would have tried better to communicate with the group and make sure every contributed the same amount of effort and divided up the work. Our group had a lot of challenges and halfway through the project we ended up loosing a group member. Zoha and I ended up doing practically all the work. We should've planned our time a little better so once it was built Liana could've created a design and pattern for it because that is what she was really passionate and excited to do. However, with all the structural set backs we did not have time to make it look as beautiful as possible. I learned a lot from this project, and not just about catapults. I discovered the effect prototypes and planning in advance and I also learned the importance of creating beautiful, quality work. Our catapult ended up breaking on the launch day. It was very embarrassing but more so frustrating. We worked so hard on improving it and trying to make it better but it all broke on the most important day. I think it broke because we did have a solid foundation from the start so the small adjustments and tweaks we made, in the end weren't enough to compensate for the poor base. Overall, I learned an abundance of information and feel I grew a lot as a student.