Storm the Castle B

[disownedpear]

i cant believe the new size requirements

[chalker]

i cant believe the new size requirements

I know... it's exactly what you were wishing upon a star for but didn't think we'd ever be willing to do right?

In all seriousness though, a fundamental thing we tried to do with the changes this year is reduce the max throw distance. Event supervisors were having a very difficult time finding facilities that were big enough to hold the event in last year.

[foreverphysics]

Well, I don't know how far the launch was supposed to be at Nats (because I didn't actually do Storm), but I do know that the counterweight was 1.5 kg. I helped my teammate test the thing, and I know the weight because it was one of the weights we hadn't gotten to testing yet.

[confusedhuman]

Are gears allowed in the building of the trebuchets?

General rule #2 applies to most questions like this: http://soinc.org/ethics_rules

soooo thats a yes? welll anyways have u guys heard of trebs which arms swing around the axle and then launch?

[wlsguy]

Are gears allowed in the building of the trebuchets?

General rule #2 applies to most questions like this: http://soinc.org/ethics_rules

soooo thats a yes? welll anyways have u guys heard of trebs which arms swing around the axle and then launch?

You are talking about multi rotational trebuchets (MRT). They have been allowed in the past. They have a nice video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFHiNeX1Dk

The problem with gears is you lose something when you make the change in ratio. You may increase arm speed but at a loss of power. It is also difficult to insure you do not break the energy rule since at some point the throwing arm will fall forward (in direction of the launch).

It's my opinion a MRT would not violate general rule # 2 but would likely break the energy rule (or be really inefficient).

[tande]

I haven't seen the new rules yet. What are the new size requirements?

[PacificGoldenPlover]

i cant believe the new size requirements

I know... it's exactly what you were wishing upon a star for but didn't think we'd ever be willing to do right?

In all seriousness though, a fundamental thing we tried to do with the changes this year is reduce the max throw distance. Event supervisors were having a very difficult time finding facilities that were big enough to hold the event in last year.

Are there any other important changes to the rules?

[chalker]

Are there any other important changes to the rules?

Yes. Far too many to detail here. You need to just get a copy of the rules and look at all the bolded items.

[A-Ro]

Does anyone know the winning distances for nationals last year?

I placed 3rd with 18.9m and 2nd got 20-21m but I dont know about 1st.

[foreverphysics]

*snort*
We failed so badly last year...all I know is that we got 47th. Maybe it was because we hadn't tested the counterweight that they used..we just didn't have time.
But that does not take away the fact that we failed...regardless that I did not do the event, only helped. A lot.