Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Murlin Trebuchet Case Study

Robert Sitbon
5/9/2014
Murlin Trebuchet Case Studies

Summary
 
The murlin trebuchet works by having a fulcrum surrounded by nodes of varying sizes. The counterweight has a string that is rapped around the outside of these nodes that is then attached to a point at the bottom of the apparatus. The sling is attached to the longest node so when the counterweight is released the fulcrum is spun launching the projectile using the energy built up within the string.
I chose the merlin trebuchet because it looked the coolest of the three choices. Also is looked the most unique with the spinning apparatus at the center.

Case Study #1

 
Positive:
1.  It shows the dimensions.
2. Has plenty of images and diagrams.
3. Has the blueprints of the spinning part.

Negatives:
1. It's dimensions are in Meters not feet.

Url: http://prezi.com/lpxzueiilmh2/murlin-trebuchet/



Case Study #2

Positive:
1. this site shows a step-by-step pictorial of how this guy built his trebuchet.
2. Has plenty of images
3. Shows the materials used

Negative:
1. Doesn't contain dimensions.

Url: http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Murlin-Trebuchet/10601767




















 
 

Monday, May 5, 2014

Sumobot Summary

 


Robert Sitbon
5/5/2014


Summary
 

This project's requirements were that we had to create a robotic car that was able to move and turn corners. When making our robot we chose to make a long body, but unlike the others we chose to have our wheels farther away from the body. We chose to do this originally so that we can make more space on the chassis, but later in testing it showed that this change gave us a wider and more accurate turning radius. We also chose the spots for the brain and the battery pack so that the weight is evenly distributed along the whole body. So that there would be enough weight on the wheels and motors, but not too much that it would weigh the wheels down and make them move too slow.
Result
 
The results of the time trial for my group was that we had the fastest time with 0:51 seconds. I believe our robot was the fastest because we have a small-to-medium gear ratio giving us more speed with the sacrifice of some torque. Also an advantage we had over the others was that we had an easy time making turns since we had a larger wheel ratio giving us the ability to make sharper and more accurate turns.
 

Analysis
 


What I would change on my robot would be fixing the alignment of the wheels since we had a problem with the left wheel wanting to turn to the left, even though this gave us an advantage with turning. Another thing I would change would be the front of the robot. I would make it pointy so that it wouldn't be as blunt and it would reduce air friction when moving.