At
present I am an engineer who blogs incessantly about my creations. When I started high school I dwas a jock who
was just happy to be in sports. Cross
country, track and field, wrestling and soccer.
Now, I’m still pretty competitive and once in a while I get to flex that
muscle.
Today
I met some friends for lunch and we talked about how we would make a tennis
ball launcher. I had an idea that
was mostly a slingshot
mated with a bazooka. My friend had an idea that was a ballista mated with a
slingshot.
I did
the only natural thing and suggested a competition to see who could build the
better tennis ball launcher for the summer.
He and I are both Dungeons & Dragons
geeks so we put our rule
lawyering skills to the test and hashed out a set of criteria for scoring
the final products.
Enough
background.
----------
A
friendly competition was set up with Jody Patterson to create a tennis ball
launcher. Criteria for judging was
agreed upon and includes quantitative scoring in:
- Cost
- Range
- Weight
- Draw weight
- Accuracy
Qualitative
scoring in:
- Ease of use
- Repeatability
- Style
- Marketability
The
panel to judge the qualitative subjects has not been decided.
Two
ideas were sketched using Adobe Ideas on the iPad. The first sketch illustrates a design like a
slingshot with bearings guiding elastic bands similar to a slingshot. It is meant to be built on a 2x4.
First design sketch
The
second sketch uses three PVC tubes outfitted with skate bearings. Some of the issues encountered with the first
design were rectified and some of the design was copied.
Second design sketch
One
member was recruited to the team.
To
do:
- Discuss design
- Build + Test
- Refine
Journal page
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