Tyson

What goes boom in the night? Our duct tape slinging catapult of course! After faulty hardware compromised our first two robotics projects, we pivoted flawlessly and created two projectile launchers.

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Inspiration

One teammate's little brother had a trebuchet contest at school, and she thought of the potential of larger scale materials and an advanced brain.

What it does

This catapult flings rolls of duct tape, beads, and many other things with ease.

How we built it

We used our hands primarily, working in tape and rope for fasteners, cardboard and chopsticks for structure, and forks for rigidity. Some rubber bands and rope made up the spring mechanism.

Challenges we ran into

Our original hardware project, named Tyson because it was a box(er), was severely compromised by bad parts. With little way to fix bad hardware with good software late in the game, we tried one last time to create a robot, this time with more analog components, starring a chopstick launcher. However, after a critical motor failed, we completely freed ourselves from the tyranny of electromotive force, constructing the catapult, Tyson II.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Flinging a roll of tape 20 feet

What we learned

Nothing beats good old mechanical principles.

What's next for Tyson

He will be scavenged for forks and remembered with honor.

Built With

  • cardboard
  • chopsticks
  • ducttape
  • english
  • painter'stape
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