by
Aaron Mosher
A trebuchet is a
medieval siege engine
that uses a massive
counterweight to
accurately propel a
projectile great
distances
Constants:
Mcw: mass of the
counterweight
mp: mass of the projectile
h: height of the pivot
ds: sling length
dcw: CW length
dsa: length of the short arm
dla: length of the long arm
State Variables:
: pivot angle
: sling angle
: pivot angle
1 2
mv projectile
2
M cw
h
mp
the air
L = T V
d L L
0=
dt qi qi
1 2 2
ml
2
V = mgl (1 cos )
1
L = ml 2 2 mgl (1 cos )
2
T=
0 = sin
l
h d la cos
sin 1
2
ds
f
qi
a qi =
d la sin( )
d s (h d la cos( ) )
2
a = 1
h d la cos
g = xp 2
2
d s (h d la cos )
x p = d s sin ( + ) d la sin ( )
xc = d sa cos
yc = h + d sa cos
y = d sin
y p = h + d s cos( + ) d la cos( )
sa
1
2
2
2
2
M cw ( xc + y c ) + m p ( x p + y p )
2
V = M cw g yc + m p g y p
i =
h
d la
d sa + d cw < h
Release time:
For given dimensions, a desired release time was