Ballistic Project

The Ballistic Project required me to use my knowledge of kinematics and projectiles to assemble a device in order to launch a ping pong ball.
I ran tests, collected data, and analyzed it. I calculated mean, standard deviation, and x displacement to find the average number of feet traveled, and maximum distance.
Initial velocity and firing range were used as ways to hit a target accurately. All of these concepts are required to determine the best angle and force to consistently hit the target.
Criteria and Constraints
- Must launch between 5-15 ft
- Must be made from household materials
- Design must fit in a 1ft by 1ft box
- The design must have 9 angles
- Velocity should remain constant

Ballistics Device Graph

The graph (Left) compares the actual range and the ideal range of the ping pong ball. The ideal range is the theoretical outcome of how far the shot will fire. The actual range is how far the ball actually traveled.

The actual range is higher than the theoretical range from 10-40 degrees before falling shorter than the ideal range after 40 degrees

To launch the ping pong ball, first place the rod in the desired firing angle hole, add the required number of rubber bands to both hooks, pull and hold the kicker back, place the ball on the two nails when the kicker will swing through, finally release the kicker.
In my earlier designs I wedged the ball with the kicker so when I tap the ball with a pencil the kicker will automatically shoot the ball. The force of the rubber band caused the kicker to crush the ball instead of holding it in place.
To solve this I added two nails in front of the kicker and centered the kicker in between them. This not only solved the problem but improved accuracy. During the competition the device was to shoot 13 feet into a 1ft by 1ft box and I was given 3 tries and a bonus shot. Only by 1 inch did all 4 shots miss the target. This was most likely caused by the number of rubber bands we used was too much.
In the future I would try to test device’s power and shoot with different numbers of rubber bands. It would make a large impact on accuracy so I can find out the number of rubber bands needed for a certain range.