Storm the Castle B [TRIAL]

[knightmoves]

For this to work, I'm assuming that the weight is not directly attached to something like a string that connects it to the "sling" part. In my mind, I'm kind of thinking of it like a compound bow's cam except that the string attached to the "sling" has the archery device which is set off somehow when it reaches a certain point or if the weight hits something. I know this design is flawed, but did the actual thing relate to my guess in any way?

This is all from memory, so...

The spring has two ends. One end is attached to the mechanism that launches the car / projectile. The car/projectile is held in place by the trigger mechanism. The other end is attached to a string, which is pulled taut through some kind of cam cleat / whatever by the falling weight. It needs to work off a single trigger, so the falling weight must trigger the arrow release before / as it hits the ground.

[Pebble]

Oh, that makes much more sense. Also, would this design work well compared to catapults like the floating arm trebuchet?

[knightmoves]

Would it work well? That's harder to say.

Some teams used it for scrambler, because it was a more efficient way of transferring energy from the falling weight to the car, and speed counted for points. More energy transfer here gives you more range, which gives you more points (within the constraints of the room you're in). So it's possible. On the other hand, if you give up accuracy for a modest gain in range, that might not be a net gain.

Would I build one? Probably not for this year, but I might experiment with it for next year, and see if it seemed worthwhile.