Our Trebuchet

today my partner monique and i figured out our structure of our trebuchet and we put it all on graph paper. we decided to go with a trebuchet that has lots of triangles to keep it strong and steady. our hight is 550mm and our length is 1100mm for our trebuchet. we have designed our trebuchet to fit a sling so i hope we will be able to achieve the sling.  

construction ideas

i have been looking up ideas on how to build a trebuchet and i found these 2 photos on google on someones trebuchet and it looks like it would really work and it one of the ideas i would like to use. i will have to research  ore on the sling as mr ward tried to do it but it didn't work for him but i would really like to give the sling a go as it would make the golf ball go further when we test it on the oval.

What's The Difference Between a Catapult and a Trebuchet?

- Catapults are any device that throws an object, although it commonly refers to the medieval siege weapon.


- Trebuchets are a TYPE of catapult, using gravity (with a counterweight) or traction (pulling down), to propel the arm and often employing a sling at the end of the arm for greater distance. This is different from other catapults in that it doesn't use built up tension for it's throwing force.

Research

What is a Trebuchet?

   

General Information:

   

A trebuchet is a medieval siege engine. It was used to launch projectiles great distances to reduce walls to rubble or to throw infected corpses over castle walls, similar to modern days’ biological warfare.

The trebuchet came to be during the twelfth century in and around Europe. The average weight of it’s projectiles ranged from 50-100kg with an average throwing distance of 300m, however balls of up to 1500kg were recorded to have been used at the battle of Ashyun. The end of the trebuchet came with the introduction of gunpowder giving way to the siege weapon of choice, the cannon. This innovation came about towards the end of the 15th century. 

Ideas

our first lesson today we got to look at the different materials to build our trebuchet and i am really considering picking the thicker pine to use to actually construct our trebuchet but i am going to do some more research on the materials so i can get the best possible outcome for my trebuchet. i have looked up plans to make the trebuchet and found some ideas that would work this is one of them that i really think could work, i really want to try do the sling as research says that it will make the object go further. 

Research:  - 

The Treb frame should be on wheels if the ground is hard and flat - This allows a slight movement that adds momentum to the throw and prevents the frame shaking itself to bits.

 the weight should be in the form of a swinging box so that as the arm goes over the weight maintains the perfect relationship imparting the maximum momentum to the arm

 The sling is long enough to allow the stone to lie on the platform of the treb as the arm swings it up at the top of the swing the stone will come free and pass between the ropes of the sling. This is an improvement on the fixed cup at the end of the arm because it effectively lengthens the treb arm imparting more momentum.