In my Engineering Dynamics course with Dr. Katherine Saul, teams were tasked with designing and creating a precise launcher mechanism to consolidate what we learned in lecture. Teams could choose between a rotational or linear design where the goal was to launch a racquetball into a bucket at varying distances from three to twelve feet away.
Our team of four decided on a linear launch design. This consisted of a PVC pipe at a fixed angle with two springs on either side. The springs were attached to an inside launching pad that was just small enough for a racquetball. Before we could start building, our team wrote a pre-design paper to have the idea approved. This outlined the basic design, materials needed, and equations that proved our launcher would work.
Below I included the MATLAB file which allowed our team to find the spring constant and deflection while plotting a visual of the target range. To purchase the right springs, under our cost cap of $25 set by project requirements, I wrote a MATLAB code that determined the required spring constant and deflection for a desired launch distance. The correct spring would be able to target each possible bucket distance from three to twelve feet and marks along the PVC pipe launcher would denote the required deflection.
On competition day, our team was very successful in hitting all five targets in the three minute launch window. This was the minimum success our launcher had to achieve to recieve a passing grade on the project. The five buckets stationed between three and twelve feet had varying diameters and proved tricky for some launcher designs. More points were awarded for hitting smaller diameter buckets than the larger diameter ones.
This project was been valuable in better understanding dynamic concepts learned in lecture and applying them to real world problems.
Comments by cemoore9