Trajectory New York State Coaches Clinic October th 2009 Fishkill, New York

This is not Storm the Castle Safety rules borrowed from Storm. Throwing Distance determined by event supervisor. Distances thrown much less. Accuracy is King. Energy provided by non metallic elastic solid.

Storm the Castle is a distance throwing event that combines distance with accuracy. Trajectory is an accuracy event where distance is limited to 8 meters. (10 meters division C) The best place to hold the event would be in a gymnasium, but it could be held in an auditorium or class room with a high ceiling or outside in good weather. (Wind will have a large effect on this event.)

Device Must be stable. Must be repeatable. Must be adjustable. Must be safe. Projectile provided by competitors. This year projectiles are limited to Tennis ball, Racquetball, Ping-Pong ball or Plastic practice Golf Ball

Construction The device when set to launch must fit into a 70 cm cube for B division 60 cm cube for C division. I would suggest building a box with 70 cm or 60 cm inside dimensions and place it over the device to check the device. Tell the students they should hold to 2 cm less then maximum size so they do not have problems. Larger will not gain them any advantage. The device should be heavy or have provision to add ballast so it doesn’t move when launched.

The device must be powered by a non-metallic elastic solid. You can use rubber, plastic, fiberglass, wood, rope, nylon anything not made out of metal. Before you make a final selection on an elastic material to be used, test it to see if it holds up well after being stretched, compressed or flexed. If it reduces the amount of stored energy after use, it will not be suitable for this event. The students can vary the distance the device throws by varying the amount of stored energy or by changing the angle of launch. If they use the angle change method, they must take into account the ceiling heights at different locations.

Once the device is constructed you must test to see if it can throw the maximum and minimum distance. During this test you must determine if you have sufficient range in your adjustment between the two. After you have found the setting for the maximum distance, the students should be discouraged from adjusting for longer throws just to see what the device is capable of. If they break the elastic material or stretch it out, all the calibration curves will need to be redone.

Projectile The projectile is provided by the student and should be a Tennis Ball, Racquet ball, ping-pong ball or plastic practice golf ball. Students should test several different types of projectiles to use with their device to see which type is most consistent. Students should mass several of the same type projectiles so they can have several matched projectiles in case the primary projectile is lost during testing. The projectile should be labeled so the student will know if it is the proper one. If they use a tennis ball and it rolls under the bleachers they might find five tennis balls just like the one they were using.

Graphs Collecting data and presenting it in graphical form helps the students achieve the best outcome as well as increasing their understanding of the relationships between the variables in the event. Below is a sample graph with the data table, it meets all the requirements for points. Remember each graph must be on a separate sheet of paper, Team names must appear on each sheet of paper.

Course Layout

The Bucket Shot New ! Fresh! Only used if team hits target and requests the shot. Bucket will be between 1 and 5 gallon. The same for all teams Will be between 2 and 8 meters for B division 2 and 10 meters for C division and up to two meters off center line. Same for all teams, bucket off course when not being used.

Penalties There are penalties assessed for not: wearing the safety goggles correctly being in the launch area, or being in front of the launch area when triggered the device going through an unintentional launch motion, no warning being given prior to launch, Machine being outside the launch area. Students will be informed of a penalty they have received before the next launch.

Keys to Event Students must prepare for different elevations. Students can measure target distance and height before they launch. Students can measure distance they missed by, but must ask first. Charts need to be prepared for all distances and elevations.

Scoring –The winner will be the team with the lowest Final Score which = lower Close Target Area Score + lower Far Target Area Score + Graph Score + Penalties – Bucket Shot Deductions (if any). –Target Area Scores The Close Target Area Score shall be the distance in mm, from the center of the initial projectile impact location to the center of the target area. Teams who miss the target area will score 800 mm for that shot. The Far Target Area Score shall be measured similarly for a hit in the target area but measured to the impact location if outside the target area. Event supervisor(s) will visually note and mark the observed impact location outside the target area, then measure the distance in mm. A team whose announced target area is the farther target but whose projectile hits the nearer target will receive a score of the straight line measured distance between the impact location and the center of the farther target.

–Graph Score - Each team starts with 400 graph points which they can reduce by turning in graphs, notes, and other data at impound, as determined by the event supervisor(s). Each of four selected graphs may reduce the Graph Score by 100 points. Any number of graphs may be impounded but the students must indicate which four will be used to determine the graph score. Failure to indicate this will result in the 1st four graphs being scored. Graphs and tables can be computer generated or drawn by hand but must be on separate sheets of paper. If drawn by hand, they must be drawn on graph paper. Data tables must accompany graphs and be on the same side of the sheet of paper. Graphs and tables must be properly labeled. All variables and units must be identified. Each graph and data table must be identified with the team name. One of the four selected graphs will be scored as follows: –20 point reduction for completed data table, –20 point reduction for graph, –20 point reduction if graph matches data table, –40 point reduction for graph being properly labeled (title, team name, x & y axis variables, & increments with units) Partial credit may be given. The score will be multiplied by the number of graphs turned in, up to four.

–Teams will be ranked in tiers based upon Teams whose device meet all specifications will be ranked by score in first tier. Teams whose devices do not meet specifications listed in 3.a.b.c.d. will be ranked in the second tier. –Example: Lower Close Target Area Score = 10 mm, Lower Far Target Area Score = 1487 mm, Graph Score = 150, Penalties = 100 Final Score = = 1747 –The first tie breaker shall be the lower total of sum of the two scored shots (to reward consistency) and the second tie breaker by the closer of the two scored shots. The third tie breaker will be the non scored shot at the far target, The forth tie breaker will be the non-scored shot at the close target.

Some Other Tips Practice with safety glasses so come event day you will wear them. Run practice competitions so you learn to follow instructions. Have somebody read the rules and check your device.

Summary of Changes Restrictions on Ball. Added Bucket shot. Only scoring one graph. Device size changes. Cautions on triggering device.

Summary This event combines experimentation with construction and data collection. To be successful students must test materials, design, construct, and test. Then collect large quantities of data. They then must be able to use the collected data in a way that will predict the performance of there machine. They only have two shots at each target with the best score from each being scored.