Project overview

• School assignment (AP physics 1)

• Create a weapon of mass destruction (catapult) to launch 3 water balloons at minimum 2 meters high and at 3 different ranges, using materials and designs of our own choosing, among a group of 3 people. We turned to the catapults of antiquity for inspiration, and learned of the four principal mechanisms of catapults: tension, torsion, traction, and cantilever. While we initially wanted to do an onager-inspired torsion catapult with a wheel torsion mechanism, we chose a tension catapult design instead due to time constraints, using bungee cords and PVC pipes to construct it to keep costs at a minimum.

• Completed in eight weeks - October - November 2021

Final Catapult design

Testing Process

Building process

CAD Models