Blitman Brigade

Today we had to test both the trebuchet and catapult to see if they were capable of working and launching the ball far enough to get a decent grade. This went well and I think when we launch for a grade we will succeed. There may have to be some finishing touches on that day but overall it is looking good.

Today we finished the Trebuchet but need to add the sling for the final touch. We tested it and the weights did not cause the wood to split. This was good progress but now we have to create the sling to launch the object. Hopefully we can finish this Thursday but we have some people who are going to be absent for AP tests.                    

Today we tested our Trebuchet arm. We gathered the weights and attached it to the arm using a thin metal rod. This allowed the weights to stay vertical throughout the process. When we tested it the rod that we installed went right through our wood because of the amount of force. This made us restart the whole arm and add extra support.

Today we further worked on the Trebuchet and it is not looking too bad. We added the support for the counter weights. Now we just have to get the weights and the rubber bands for the Catapult. We also continued to work on both of the instructables but we cant proceed onto the next steps if we are not finished with the constructions.

Today we finished the arm of the Trebuchet and continued to work on the instructables. This may take longer because we have found out that we need to do two instructables. One for the catapult and one for the Trebuchet. We need to acquire the source of power other known as the rubber bands. 

We hope to finish the construction of the Trebuchet this week and get one test in. Its hard to find the right rubber bands for the Catapult, so we still need to order those which will complete it. We hope to find ones with enough strength to throw our ball 100 Yards without snapping our wood.

Today we worked on completing the Trebuchet and had decent progress with this task. The arm is a bit thin so we added support. We started to work on inscrutables but we ran into a problem because we did not take the necessary progress pictures needed in the instructable. We have to use the pictures that we have. We have also started to put the wheels on both the Trebuchet and Catapult.

Today we continued our work on the Trebuchet and attached a few wheels to the Catapult. We hope to finish attaching the wheels onto the Catapult the next time we have to work on them. Instructables was started today and we got up to step 5. There are many steps and I hope to finish it soon because we have to get other things done.

Today we continued construction on the Trebuchet. Although we do not have the proper materials to build what we want to we are going to try our best to produce something that works. Our arm is going to be a little to thin so we are going to have to reinforce it with smaller pieces of wood. Another problem we are running into is finding an axle that will not break and fit into the hole that we drilled into the Trebuchet.

Today we did not have our full group present, so it was not as productive as the previous days. We have cut the holes in the arm and the supporting wood placed on the arm to prevent it from snapping. This has completed the building of the Catapult. Our next step is to buy the Giant rubber bands for the Catapult to create power in our arm. We also have to finish the building of the Trebuchet. I have a bad feeling that its not going to go as planned.

Our main goal for today was to try to finish the Catapult completely. We finished it but have to adjust the arm so it does not crack when in action. The axle went on smoothly and we continued building the Trebuchet. Our next move is to update the Catapult and Trebuchet when we are done building.

Today we completed the catapult but we are waiting on the axle so we can fully complete it. Our goal is to launch a ball 100 yards which is a football field. This is going to be a challenge for us because none of us have experience with building things. Hopefully we can hit the mark and get a decent grade.

Today we are continuing the construction of the Catapult. We are almost done with the building but will need to upgrade it after we build the Trebuchet. The Trebuchet will be a little more challenging because of the complexity compared to the Catapult. We had to unscrew the unstable base of the Trebuchet to redo it and try to make it a little more stable. We made some progress on the Catapult but its becoming rough.