Introduction
A trebuchet is weapon developed and used Europe in the 12th century. It can also be known as a "counter weight trebuchet"; in the Middle Ages it was known that it could launch projectiles ~140kg into enemy fortifications. Over the proceeding centuries with new technology and materials it has turned into competitions around the world mainly launching a variety of objects.
The objective of this project is to develop a dynamic model of a trebuchet. Students will be required to design, optimise and build a CAD prototype and simulate the motion in Solidworks also derive the hand based calculations to support your simulation.
This is an individual based practical
Boundary Conditions:
• Launch a projectile as far as possible before it hits the ground - distance will be measured from the main pivot point
• Ground will be considered the plane the trebuchet sits on.
• The trebuchet dimensions must fit within a 3m x 3m footing.
• The trebuchet can have as many members as needed to achieve the greatest distance possible.
• Projectile can be 1, 2, 3 or 4 kg, make it a minimum of 200 mm in diameter
• Counterweight needs to be 2 orders of magnitude heavier than your weight (ie 1kg weight 100kg counterweight)
• Trebuchet arm can be 2, 4, 6 or 8 metres in length
• Pivot point along the length can be anywhere along the length of the arm
• Pivot point height can be 1, 1.5, 2.0 or 2.5 metres above the ground
• Gravity must be used and must = 9.81m/s2
Assessment:
• A working simulation must be submitted
• Analysis of the motion of swing including velocity and acceleration plots of all moving parts
• Projectile analysis of projectile eg: flight path, horizontal distance, deceleration and launch velocity.
• There are a total of 64 variations that can be achieved - this is an individual practical, all assumptions and boundary conditions must be listed.