Air Trajectory

Air Trajectory is a Division B and Division C event that debuted in 2015 after being a trial event at the 2014 National Tournament. The object is to construct a device that uses only the gravitational energy of a falling mass to launch a projectile either directly or indirectly.

Competition

Note: The information below may change when the 2015 rules are released.

From at least 1 meter away, students must trigger a device that drops a mass and then converts the gravitational energy of the mass to air pressure or movement, which is used to launch the projectile. The device must start at ambient air pressure (i.e., the projectile should not launch without the mass falling).

The goals is to launch the projectile (i.e., tennis balls, racquetballs, ping-pong balls, or plastic practice golf balls) so that it lands as close as possible to the center of a target placed between 2.00 to 10.00 meters away. The allowed intervals at which the target areas are placed are different for regionals, states, and nationals.

In addition to device accuracy at the competition, the score accounts for a graph component, in which teams are to bring graphs for determination of the best launch parameters.

Testing Your Device

Test your device so you can make sure it works as stated in the parameters. Then test it at different temperatures and different humidities and so on since the device can be affected by all or any one of those factors. Do your main testing at conditions as close as possible to what is expected at competition. In some regional and state competitions you may have to account for a wide range of temperatures and even wind speeds if competition is outdoors, but Nationals is always done indoors in a controlled environment. Make sure you are on level ground and are exact.

Consistency and reliability are the most important characteristics to strive for. The ideal device should be at a point where it hits the target every time. A device that hit the target 1 time out of 3 is unlikely to beat a device that can hit the target 9 times out of 10. It is important as well that the device be sturdy enough so that once you have done your calibration, nothing will break or move (or you are likely to have to completely re-calibrate you device).

Tips

• Make sure to put a ball(or whatever you are launching) in before you launch sometimes it can be easy to forget to reload it. An inadvertent launch will count as one of your 4 possible launches so you don't want to waste them.
• While in the testing box, be sure that you do not remove your goggles. *Doing so will result in a large penalty.
• Make sure that you and your partner are always out of the launching box while launching that means hands and knees also.
• Try bringing a checklist and before you impound your Trajectory check that you have everything you need.
• Before you launch make sure to notify the judges.
• Take your time - do not hurry to launch! Estimate where your projectile will land before launching.

Files

Graph Examples

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