Post-Competition Reflection

During the accuracy part of the competition I think we did fairly well.  Our closest hurl was 1.3m from the center of the ring.  We had some problems with the angle of release when preparing for the challenge after we adjusted the weight but we were able to get it pretty good again by the time the competition started.  If I had a chance to improve our trebuchet I would make sure that the weight was easier to adjust and the base was properly pegged down so it doesn't shake at all.  If we were to build an entirely new trebuchet I would want to make the drop of the counterweight larger as I feel this would greatly improve our distance.  I would do this by shifting the arm on the axle so the side with the counterweight has a greater length.  In order to make our current trebuchet perform better we would need to adjust the angle of release and peg the whole thing down so it doesn't shake.  A cover on the counterweight to hold the weights in would also be good so that they don't fall out after every toss.