TREBUCHET BOWLING!!
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- It is a simple thing - I have a trebuchet that throws bowling balls, so sooner or later I had to actually go 10 pin bowling!
Clearly we needed suitable targets for the pins, so the 'running knight' target was born.
This film was supposed to show the knights being obliterated, but clearly my trebuchet is misbehaving, so the quest will go on to sort it out and one day I am sure I can take down the vanguard with ease.....(just not this day).
The arm of the machine will be extended and we will start the whole process again, but whilst I struggle on with this, visiting my websites and going shopping helps and while you are there don't forget to sign up to the news letters and my running knight T shirt is available from the Merch shelf below the video.
As well as the T shirt, I will be making the "Running Knight" target available on my website directly so you will be able to buy digital artwork and posters of it, but it will take a little time for me to organise, so not quite yet......
Production replica weapons are available here todcutler.com
And T shirts and Merch todsworkshop.creator-spring.com
Custom pieces are available here todsworkshop.com
By the way....Although it appears I must be on some pretty fast drugs, as my editor pointed out "when you turn 5 hours of filming into 5 minutes you get pretty full on" - apologies, I may try to be calmer next time.
You're standing much closer to the landing sites of the trebuchet than I would dare!
Especially given Tod's choice of t-shirt 🤭
Projectiles slow enough to observe in flight are easily dodged.
Trust your physics, QH.
@@paulweidler2117 Oh I know way too much physics to trust anything other than a spherical cow in a vacuum to behave as I expect it to haha
@@QuantumHistorian That's covered by Boyle's Law, isn't it? "For a fixed mass of cow kept at a fixed temperature, pressure and volume are inversely proportional; so long as you don't change the colour of the cow"
Love the end shot of the overlayed trajectories. Was hoping for that one, grouping isn't horrid given the tools used just a shame those soldiers have such a close connection to lady luck and Tod doesn't.
Thanks - I just think it should be much better than this
@@tods_workshop It's obvious that something is going on. Maybe it's just inherent in the machine. An awesome amount mass being moved, with built-in variables. I am sure you will figure it out. As you said at the beginning, it's not a weapon for use against ground forces. Without explosives, it's too easy to evade. Man, I envy you. Again, thanks for letting us into your joy! I can't wait for your videos. It's great watching a man enjoying the fruits of his labor and skill.
@@tods_workshop It would be with jugs of hot tar, several jugs at a time
Ever see War Games with Matthew Broderick?
What effect would shifting the ball off to the left or right slightly as it lies ready to be slung? Would that give you any control over the landing place?
I was thinking along those lines after seeing one of the preps where he was shifting the ball in sling. What if the variations might be slight differences in ball/sling placement and variations in how it's pulled each time because of that.
Liiindybeeeeeige!
I think the contemporary Roman doctrine was to ask the enemy very politely to move a bit to the left.
My first thought was more along the lines of Tod standing a good 50 yards further left or right of the landing place being a good idea. But it would be a spectacular and glorious way to go. "I have a trebuche!! Loose! Aaaarrrggh! [Thump]
I have built several trebuchets when younger, smaller than Tod's of course, 4 meters tall was the biggest one, and yeah, both the sling and the pin greatly control the final direction and movement to left or right of targets (pin specifically controls distance and minor X+ and X- adjustments), I would highly recommend to ensure that the pin is being positioned as consistently as possible and that it is not getting bent, as well as making sure that the sling is both VERY tense when loaded at the base of the trebuchet as well as it is positioned EXACTLY below of the counterweight or as long as the sling ropes are, but TENSE, if it is moved slightly left, or slightly right then the ammunition will be shot to the opposite direction, but ensure that the sling is as tense as possible before it is shot
For anti-personnel you need to fire about 50 golf balls (or however many is equivalent to the weight of 1 bowling ball) at once!
Gravel shot
A basket of cricket balls!
A basket of rabid dogs.
High explosive vs. Armor penetrating he needs to throw pots of NAFTA
or incendiaries...
Just a thought that came to me while watching this video: one clear advantage the cannon had over these earlier siege engines was the fact that, because the projectile arc is much flatter, a cannonball will generally ricochet, and the likelihood of hitting soldiers with any given shot was consequently far greater. Here you can see why (apart from other logistical considerations) trebuchets were not practical as battlefield artillery.
Not really an 'advantage', trebuchets were never designed for attacking, nor is there any indication they were used against, men.
Although they were used as a terror weapon (delivering fireballs, diseased horses, live rats, bees, snakes, human poo, etc), if you are actually trying to kill men there are far better engines, even before the age of gunpowder.
@@Nomans_Nomen Trebuchets are just not movable. Some ballistae and rope torsion engines are. And a few of those were anti-personnel.
@@Nomans_Nomen problem here, a regular mangonel-style catapult costs at least an order of magitude less to build in terms of time, labour, and materials, and for the purposes of igniting infantry will be *FAR* more effective.
Remember unlike video games you dont simply bring a trebuchet to the battlefield. Building just a single trebuchet is a major investment in time and money, once you have decided where to site it, you then task a legion of woodcutters and carpenters to chop and shape the wood, the animals you need for the sinews you bring to the siege camp LIVE along with a company of farmers and butchers, you also have a company of stonemasons to fashion the projectiles, and hordes of pack animals to carry the carts containing the ropes and fastenings plus spares of course. And dont forget, you need to bring extra food and provisions for all these extra artisans, food and provisions that you could otherwise use to feed more soldiers.
If this was a pitched battle the battle would be well over and the bones of the fallen already picked clean by crows before you even manage to cut the trees down you need to make your trebuchet.
There was an old artillery technique which i can't remember the name of, where they'd try to skip the cannon ball like a stone over water to do more damage to infantry
@@Nomans_Nomen Even then. By the time you've loaded and aimed the thing, the infantry you're targeting has moved off. Even the much much lighter roman Scorpions were of very limited use in pitch battles. Heavier artillery with waaaay slower rate of artillery and abysmal accuracy is far less effective against troops.. A handful of archers/crossbowmen can start from outside a trebuchet's/mangonel's range, inside their own shooting range, and kill the 10 times over crew before the artillery has come close to hitting any of them.
Fascinating to see the variation in trajectory. I wonder what's causing that? Presumably the sum of slight changes in lots of different elements of the trebuchet?
More likely, the stresses on the rope as the strands stretch. How long did it take Tres Botchers to notice the problem?
I suspect that the CEP = circular error probability is a lot larger than anticipated, unless there are published sources for expected trebuchet CEP. For perspective, internal ballistics in modern artillery includes controlling stuff as minute as how consistently bagged propellant gets packed into the breech by the rammer, and the propellant temperature within reasonable margins. There's bound to be a lot of tiny variations in stuff like how the sling swings and the like that add up across that distance.
Absolutely excellent camera work in this one!
Thanks and down to Mike and Elliot on this one
The drone shots are beautiful
Tod: "This trebuchet can explode at any time, it can be dangerous."
also Tod: "I'm gonna stand near the target, where 14 pounds bowling balls should strike."
What's the problem? He's not standing near the dangerous trebuchet :P
@@sealpiercing8476 at least he as a few seconds to estimate the ball trajectory and run away if needed.
If the treb falls apart, there's not enough time to dodge the pieces in close.
@@Unsensitive Yes I understand but I had to go for the obvious joke.
Sometimes you gotta call in danger close fire missions to take out the enemy. Those balls ain’t nowhere near as big as the pair Todd carries around with him 24/7.
Actually I am pretty much a coward, with a good sense of danger and a pretty low threshold to it from years in SFX. You get to sense what does not feel right or safe and TBH standing there didn't raise my heartbeat
from what videos I have seen about aiming a trubuchet minor changes in sling position could be the left to right shift cause. As for the distance humidity in the air and sling could be the cause.
On top of which if it's raining the ropes are getting wetter and that will affect it too
Not to forget friction change on the glide track, caused by mud, rain humidity and other variables, I believe even position of finger holes on the ball might affect, and is the ball center balanced or tending to lean while rolling.
@@felixchaus Yeah I don't get why he said "the only thing that can be changing is the trebuchet itself, it must be breaking". Seems like there are a million variables that could account for the slight changes in landing position.
I don't know very much with absolute certainty, but the ropes are synthetic so should be almost completely unaffected by moisture and I suspect the overwhelming mass of the system would totally overshadow slight changes in force required by a water lube of the slide - might be wrong though
Mat - Figuratively there are loads of variables that can change, but looking at the principle ones....Counter weight not changed, projectile not changed, sling not changed, principle dimensions of machines not changed, pin angle not changed. So really there are significant changes to the trajectory, but no evident cause. I do believe the machine as it was operating here was at risk of breaking, but more importantly it is changing for no apparent reason.
5:40👌🏻Loved the combined trajectory footage, outlining the 5 very different bowling ball "flight patterns". 👍🏻
Thanks and I loved that too - really informative
Some bowling balls have offset centres of gravity. That might come into effect when it's in the air. Might be part of the explanation.
yes this is what i was wondering. I think it's most bowling balls that have unsymmetrical cores, to help you be able to spin it and get a curved path. A lot less friction in the air, but maybe the trebuchet is making it spin fast some times and not others?
@@Kaitain yeah, different amounts of spin from the release with the unsymmetrical core might be enough to throw the accuracy off.
Given the technology used, the grouping is actually pretty amazing in my opinion. The last shot with a lot flatter trajectory might be stuff getting looser due to humidity absorption and such, but overall, the shots are imho very consistent for what they are. I'm pretty sure even modern mortars wouldn't be getting much tighter group than this.
Oh I wouldn't say that.
Could be the bowling balls themselves? From what I understand, bowling balls have an asymetrical weight embedded in them to make it easier to apply spin and curve the ball down the alley. I learned that from this Veritasium video: czcams.com/video/aFPJf-wKTd0/video.html
Oh! very good point!
I hope Tod sees this.
Only expensive ones
@@wierdalien1 i got the impression that its all modern ones
Any idea how much the holes would impact the trajectory? Dimples on a golfball definitely do, but we're talking 14 pounds versus a couple of ounces.
I thought of the balls too but mostly because there are 3 holes in them which necessarily shift their center of mass from what it would be as a solid sphere. The holes also probably cause some drag and should effect flight.
10-pin Soldier Graham VI, "Phew, sir, that projectile just missed us."
Sgt Tod, "Okay formation, everyone take one pace to the left!"
The tracks of the projectiles were really interesting. If the target had been a town, there would have been damage done.
Exactly! That's obviously the problem. We should have painted towns on the targets instead of soldiers! Trebuchets are not used to aim at soldiers... They are not done to do that. Respect their nature and they will operate reliably.
This reminds me of the scene in "Lord of the Rings" where the Orc army is standing before the city. A trebuchet(?) in the city flings a huge rock towards the Orc army. This Orc stands in place and watches the rock coming straight towards him. At the last second he steps aside and the rock buries itself in the ground where he was standing.
My guess is that trebuchet is sliding a bit after every shot, with the ground being so muddy it seems like a possibility. I hope it's just something simple like that and nothing serious
That might account for variations in launch point, but the fact that the trajectories were so varied means that there has to be some variability in the actual arm/sling itself.
Engineer here. Whenever you have a mechanical contraption you have to expect that it will need to be "exercised" in order to give consistent performance. When working with precision mechanical systems (which a trebuchet trying to hit a small target counts as) you would expect that when operated "from cold" that they will perform erratically. For things like pressure gauges and load cells (my forte) you expect to have to exercise them at least 3 times before their results can be considered trustworthy. Equipment which has to be useable "off the shelf" (or that cannot be easily exercised) has special design considerations to make their results more trustworthy, but in practice never attain the accuracy of an exercised gauge or can *only* be used from cold (needing time to rest in between tests).
This also applies in a historical context, with archers spending a period of time before a battle to repeatedly draw the string of their bows and release it in order to "warm up" the bow. If you don't do this, the limbs of the bow do not bend in as predictable a manner and your accuracy suffers as a result. Whether Tod exercised the trebuchet is not explored in the video, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is aware of this detail and worked the trebuchet before hand to get more consistent performance.
The trebuchet sliding/settling in the mud is also a really good theory, as even a change in resting orientation of 1 degree would cause a multi meter inaccuracy down range.
@@pyramear5414 Your theory makes a lot of sense. I feel that if the treb sliding in mud theory, if true, should lead to the treb continually creeping in the same general direction. From one of the shots we can see that the treb seems aimed towards the left of the target. I don't know if this drift is from wind, sling or sling arm.
One thing I thought of is if the bowling balls have open holes and if they are being loaded consistently. With such holes their center of mass isn't in the center of the sphere and the holes could cause some kind of drag or tumble in flight. May be a cause of inconsistent flight.
Thanks Pyrenean. Actually no I hadn't considered this, but really my filming days are too short to be able to expend warm up time sadly so not an option for me, but always great to store a new thought. As regards sliding, I haven't checked for it, but I doubt it would have such a strong effect and besides it is well sunk in after 3 months and a load of shots sat on soft wet earth
@@tods_workshop Do the math 1cm difference over 80 meters is 80 cm about your variance ....lock the base down and accuracy will improve
I really admire how Tod chooses his videos. I feel most people would just not post this video, because every shot failed. But Tod turns it into speculation about the mechanics and design of the weapon, talking about his concerns and ideas, and it's still just really cool to see it operate. Like unsurprisingly it shocked me just how long it took for the ball to land. We're used to bullets, artillery, or even arrows all being very quick projectiles. So just the terror of standing there beside the targets watching this spec slowly (kinda) approach is awesome.
Thanks. I would of course have loved to trash the guys, but this is all about me finding out about it and if I just made it and operated it, we would all be poorer in knowledge and besides it is like being part of a team in it together
I still love that Mace head on the crank handle, almost as if someone planned on it being a possible last ditch weapon in case f a surprise attack ;-)
Still I would not be that calm standing in the target-zone, hats of to Tod for that.
I'd guess that in period some kind of polearm would be used as a crank as it has length for leverage and is top heavy to assist the downward movement.
Spherical projectiles tend to have erratic flight paths. Surface imperfections can lead to turbulence like with knuckleballs. If the release is imparting some degree of spin, then the magnus effect may also be at work.
But maybe you could throw a basket of plumbata instead?
I also considered whether or not the shape of the bowling balls affected the flight characteristics, but looking at all the launch profiles, the arc's are very smooth and consistent. From this I assume that once released, there are near negligible effects from drag or wind. Looking at the trajectories all overlaid, you can see that the angle or release is grossly inconsistent between launches. I'm not saying that wind and drag don't affect the flight paths, but I believe that the launch angle being inconsistent is far more significant.
US Army field artillery veteran here. You are learning about the difference between precision and accuracy. There are many variables that simply cannot be removed. With 105mm guns a "hit" is when it lands within 50m of the target. Of course, this is at a much longer range that your awesome trebuchet.
To be fair, a bowling ball has a much smaller casualty radius than HE rounds. I'd say about 49.7m less.
Thanks and a good point
I love that final part with all the trajectories highlighted in red, that's so cool!
That last clip of the path of all 5 shots in the same is telling. Great video, and I'm sure you'll get those knights!
Yeah, I really enjoyed that and it felt wrong on the ground, but to see it as multiple flights was really interesting
What a lot of work you guys put into this video. Thanks so much for that! I was riveted the whole time and didn't even care that you missed the targets. Also, that is an epically worn hoodie. I can only image all the work you did to get it in that condition. You rock Tod
Thanks and we had fun making it. The hoodie has a few years in it yet I feel, but yes it has lived a hard life
Have you tried bringing some priests, to bless the trebuchet ? We need to know how much it increases accuracy, you know, for science.
Good idea, but I may spread it a bit and get peeps in from all the major religions and one may do the trick
@@tods_workshop Even better :)
Excellent Photography.... Really brings it all to live!!!!
Huge difference in trajectory.
But could it be because of the rain affecting the sling?
Wet organic ropes being stretchier and heavier?
A wet load tray having less friction?
Wet wood being heavier?
Asymmetric weights in the bowling balls?
Variations in bowling ball placement in the tray and sling?
Variable bowling ball weights?
I love Tod's almost childlike enthuiasm so much, it's just heartwarming and wholesome. And so many super close hits!
If that bowling ball had H E in it all of those men were dead.☠☠☠⚔⚔
Love the final graph of all the shots at once! Very intersting!
Such passion when indicating and decreeing
LOOOOSE!
Very energetic my man. Brilliant
There's a lot of things that can affect the trajectory more than what is seen here. Slight twists in the rope, friction heating the swing arm up, movement shedding moisture from the ropes, wind speed and direction, friction changes due to roughness of the bowling ball, tiny changes in the release point of the sling, the direction that the finger holes are in during release/flight...
Hell, semi-decent bowling balls are intentionally unequally weighted so spin speed/direction will also cause some changes in flight trajectory.
If you were massively off between releases there would be a concern (and any concern should force you to err on the side of caution standing so close) but I think the minor variation you're seeing is fine, but then I'm not a trebuchet expert so I'm applying knowledge from other areas...
NEVER in the history of Mankind has a warcry inspired such confidence and belief in the men below as "Lettt's go bowling! :)
P.s the Graphic at the end is the best one I have ever witnessed in my long life, much appreciated for that whoever implemented it.
Very cool. A wonderful demonstration. Looking forward for round2...
Got to admit I have a smile on my face when I watch you have fun with this.
The shot collage was the cherry on top!
Extremely cool and well done!!! Can't wait to see more "bowling"!
With the wind in play, there would have to be some scattering of the shots. It doesn't have to be problem with the trebuchet.
Everytime I watch these videos, great as they are, I'm just distracted by the shirt. A true inspiration to those of us who wear our clothes until they literally disintegrate.
Love the honesty and how you still put up the video
Trebuchet Bowling: The heartwarming tale of a boy and his faithful trebuchet.
Yes! That is what I would call experimental bowli... aahm archaeology! Wonder why the shots end up so differently. Cannot wait for the next video!
"The open battlefield wasn't what trebuchets were about"
AoE2 players: Hold my beer [snipes a catapult with a treb]
I do love those targets. Awesome video as always. Great work!
Overall, excellent work! The weather variable plays a huge part in artillery. When fitting their main gun, modern tanks take even the slightest weather changes into consideration. While you're not aiming at a target kilometers away, the weather could still be a significant factor. On the other hand, the rounds are landing within meters of each other which would consistently batter the walls that trebuchets were built to destroy.
This certainly puts the game-ism of using siege engines against infantry in strategy games such as total war into the realm of fantasy. While using the trebuchet against a larger formation than the 10 men squad would have a higher hit probability, what struck me (pun somewhat intended) while watching this very fine video was that the bowling ball strikes into the ground and firmly embeds itself into it. Thus, you need more or less a direct hit, with the angle at which the bowling ball comes down, the formation does not need to be very loose to make it impossible for a single ball to hit multiple men.
"By the way....Although it appears I must be on some pretty fast drugs, as my editor pointed out "when you turn 5 hours of filming into 5 minutes you get pretty full on" - apologies, I may try to be calmer next time."
LOL it's alright, Todd. Good to see you having fun mate!
I think all of us would turn into big kids, playing with something like this. :D
Loving the Figure 11 Man-at-arms tee!
Nice drone shots! That high angle is really cool to see
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Dude!! 🤣😂🤣😂
The look on your face in the thumbnail... 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Love it!! Great content, fun and informative, infectious enthusiasm
Keep up the great work & thank you
love the wide shot and the drone the trajectories Tod, brilliant addition to the vids ;)
Im gonna say standing this close to the "landing zone" takes some balls, great video!
Just an Idea: Might the ball's holes be the problem - changing the aerodynamics of the ball depending on how it spins in the air?
Maybe you could fill them with some wooden poles.
Great video nonetheless :)
could be more then the finger holes, the ballance of bowling balls are a realy weird thing...
they're engineered to be that way, it an intresting subject.
@@thnecromaniac Depends on the core type. Standard house balls are usually have a core with the center of mass pretty close to the middle so -- meant to be bowled straight. Balls meant to be hooked have offcentered center of mass to allow it to hook better. It really is a weird thing. lol
@@acephantom903 aye, note the "could" bowling is super cool scientificly
That thumbnail though! Love that expression! Time makes the kid grow up, but ...
Keep up the great work! Love watching!
Thanks you for that great video - loved the drone work!
More, please. Thanks for this 🍻
And I love you standing down range.
very satisfying to see the paths all tracked out :)
Probably the most fun video of 2022 so far!
The coolness of the forward control Landover is effecting air density
A very real possibility
Love the twist on the “Herman the German” NATO targets.
And I have huge 101 Forward Control envy.
This is a hilarious idea, and I'm stealing it for my next D&D campaign.
I guess a lot of factors other than the structure deteriorating, could explain the variation: rain getting into the wood and ropes, slight differences in the way the ball was loaded into the sling, etc
Love the Medieval Fig 11s.. Those are brilliant.
Thanks and drop me a mail and I will send you the artwork, but a download will eventually be for sale on the site
nice video. no ads. straight to the point
That was excellent! Even better than smoking balls is these trajectories. With the wide pivot axel however I do not think you'll ever get accuracy. The axel will bent to cope with the forces and create randomness. It should be an A frame construction with as little wiggle room as possible I would think.
Super excited to see a hit on target here! Are you shooting the same projectile for each shot? I would think that there are slight differences between bowling balls that could effect the landing point assuming that the trebuchet is shooting the same each time. Also, are the holes on the bowling ball plugged? If they aren’t, could the random* positioning of the three holes affect the flight of the ball? (Like if a golf ball only had dimples on 1/4 of its surface). Again, I love the trebuchet videos, and I’m excited to see more. Thanks for making them!
Thanks and I have not paid attention to hole position, but intuitively I can't see it making a difference
It could be several things affecting where your bowling ball was landing. First is the position on the slide. If the sling is out of center and a bit to the right or left that will affect where the ball will land. Also, the pin that keeps the sling to the treb until it reaches the proper height and then lets loose could be a bit loose itself. If that pin is allowed to move any bit to the right, left, up, or down it will change where the ball lands as well.
'Shots - All' gave me a 'Missile Command' flashback : -)
Tod of the Trebuchet; always awesome, often astonishing! On your changing results; install some "guide rails" of fences to center and keep centered your bowling ball- that should help your left right change. ON the slight variance in range, look at the long arm of the trebuchet- the film seems to show it bending- maybe that bend is uneven. You are quite correct- if nothing is changing then the error should be consistent. It isn't. You will persevere and those laughing soldiers have another think coming! FR
I like how Tod shamelessly wears his sweaters until they completely fall apart
Two bolwing balls chained together may be an interesting projectile. It worked in the age of sail with cannons.
real glad that you're standing downrange of this thing. great to see. i'm not being mean i know it cant hit you there. really great to see you standing downrange of it.
Hi Tod unsure if this will help or not but when I was designing a trebuchet for my dissertation I discovered from the various illustrations, texts and experience of people who have recreated them that the optimum release angle is somewhere between 42-43.5 degrees. A guidance trough built for a smaller projectile might be an option too as well as changing the weight in the counterweight to match the 133:1 ratio that seems to be the standard. Distance of arm also plays a part, optimum ratios are either 4:1 or 5:1 around the fulcrum. Lastly the sling makes a huge difference as well as it creates the Magnus effect for the ball which is the spin that gives it its accuracy, therefore you might want to consider changing the material of the sling in the section that holds the projectile to give it greater spin for increased accuracy? Also as another point the addition of wheels can help to keep the machine move with the counterweight dropping to keep all the movement in line instead of having the machine effectively jump every time it fires (which can throw off accuracy). One person you could contact for further advice would be a Danish gentleman called Dr Peter Vemmings, he has built several working trebs including the Warwick castle one and was incredibly helpful for my dissertation.
Thanks for all that and I will put it in the mix, but changes are coming....
Real nice camera shots from a load of different angles
Sliding along the ground, changes to the materials from the condensation/humidity (eg wood swelling in the rain), wind changes, and any sort of considerations of the bowling balls themselves might play a role in the variability of the trebuchet, among other things.
Drone shooting is so wonderful
If history could allways be so entertaining i bet every student would love it!
You're very confident in the dispersion pattern of your trebuchet.
This was awesome, thank you very much.
Your enthusiasm is always a bonus
Keep up the good work
P.S. Excellent camera and drone footage
Thanks and thanks
Oooo, plotting the shots all together really tells a story. Definitely some potentially problematic variance. Very cool.
THIS IS AWESOME! I would love to know when the full size running Knight prints might be available for my archery club as I run our Agincourt Commemorative Wand shoot that they would be perfect for! You've brightened my day and for that I can't thank you enough.
Release angle is changing,and spin of the bowling balls could also be a variable..
I love the drone footage.
It is so cool that you got the 101 Forward Control for this. It was created to tow an artillery piece...
Mine was Rapier air defence. Hired by the USAF for defending their assets in the UK, but crewed by UK forces and has now moved on to greater things!
I like how I got a advert for a bowling supply store with this video.
Its the wind that changes things plus the rotation and inconsistency in bowling bowls.
those target silhouettes are a riot
Well thats a lot of Cameras. Nice drone shots aswell. Nicely done all around :)
you can fine-tune your horizontal aim by slightly changing the position of the projectile in the rail or have a movable rail.
it would also be good to hold the trebuchet itself in place by ground anchors.
stiffening the basket and its mounting would also really ad to the lifetime of it :D
This is one of the frustrations with ranged anything. The slights change in wind, weight, shape, or energy (speed) causes different results. This is one of the reasons competition accuracy shooters load their own ammo. Even an extra granual of gun powder can throw off the accuracy. The bigger the projectile the larger the margin of error is. Maybe you need more targets/men to cover a wider area with.
There is the effect of wind and rain on the bowling balls. Rain and natural fiber ropes don't usually mix well.
One thought I had on removing a possible variable would be to use a number of hinged sections rather than rope for the sling so that you remove side to side motion. Not sure how effective it would be though as you'd be adding more mass as well as putting a lot of stress on the components. Cord has some elasticity to help offset that, metal or wood not so much.
Imagine this bad boy launching multiple smaller projectiles. Scary stuff
How satisfying is this thing to loose? I have to imagine pulling that line has very satisfying physicality and that the noise IRL is amazing.
There should be a low V shaped slide at the bottom of the trebuchet with distance marks. It would make bowling ball shots more repeatable. I am pretty sure even a few cm to the side or a few cm of slack will give meters of differences.
Reminds me of the battle for Minas Tirith and the orcs.
Thank you , Trebu-Tod
🐺
Tod - EPIC Video!!! Yes the shots are moving - but I'd say the variance is not terrible if you were shooting at a fortification. ALSO - you might think about putting some yellow/back tape on the ball (think crash test dummies) just to see how/if the ball is spinning. Again, amazing video
Have you considered putting it on wheels? In the trebuchet project from a decade back or so they found that the range improved with the unit on wheels because the load travelled straight up and out, not backwards. Between the wheels and minor adjustments in the hook they were able to adjust point of aim on a boulder in 3' increments.
Awesome work Sir thank you
What a great video for the greatest siege machine in history, she's a beauty!