Engineering students score with pumpkin

AI Thread Summary
In an engineering experiment at Cal State Fullerton, students launched a pumpkin from a makeshift cannon, intending to hit plywood targets 50 yards away. Instead, the pumpkin flew over 120 yards, crashing into the stadium scoreboard. The incident sparked humorous commentary about the students' engineering skills and the scoreboard's durability. Participants noted the lack of mathematical calculations in the cannon's design, leading to the unexpected overshoot. Some expressed concern about the students' future engineering capabilities, especially in critical projects like Mars missions. The discussion also referenced past engineering competitions, contrasting the students' performance with more successful teams. Overall, the event highlighted both the creativity and unpredictability of engineering experiments.
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...In an engineering experiment gone awry, a pumpkin shot from a makeshift cannon aimed at two plywood targets about 50 yards away, instead catapulted more than 120 yards across Titan Stadium at Cal State Fullerton, crashing through the scoreboard...
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pumpkin-students-engineering-2631958-center-science
 
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Damn those dropped decimals.
 
We were aiming for the plywood?

Oh.. right... we just overshot it. My bad
 
:smile: I love it! It's like Revenge of the Nerds all over again, finally getting even with the jocks and their fancy scoreboards while they had to make do with pumpkins and plywood. :biggrin:
 
Wow I remember back in the day making a potatoe launcher. A pumpkin launcher, now this could be a bit more interesting. :biggrin:
 
Sorry! said:
Wow I remember back in the day making a potatoe launcher. A pumpkin launcher, now this could be a bit more interesting. :biggrin:

Dan Qualye is amonge us!
 
1) That is one wimpy scoreboard if a pumpkin punched a hole in it.

http://www.dailytitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pumpkin001-287x300.jpg

2) What a lousy shot. They just barely hit the scoreboard.

3) What an ingenious design! Having the firing mechanism raise the elevation by the precise angle required to hit the scoreboard, thereby providing a plausible "accidental" clause.

4) Dan Quayle was an engineer?
 
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BobG said:
1) That is one wimpy scoreboard if a pumpkin punched a hole in it.

http://www.dailytitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pumpkin001-287x300.jpg

2) What a lousy shot. They just barely hit the scoreboard.

3) What an ingenious design! Having the firing mechanism raise the elevation by the precise angle required to hit the scoreboard, thereby providing a plausible "accidental" clause.

4) Dan Quayle was an engineer?


No. But he was a great spellere
 
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Student 1:" We just finished that cannon we talked about in the Engineering club last week!"

Student 2:"Really, you actually built it?"

Student 1:"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as it looked."

Student 2:"How far can it shoot?"

Student 1:"I don't know. We put up a backstop and target at about 50 yards to try it out."

Student 2: "What did the math say?"

Student 1:"We didn't think we really needed the math, what's the worst that can happen?"
 
  • #10
Hopefully students involved will not work on any future Mars missions.
 
  • #11
When I read the title of this thread, I thought some engineering students had done some inappropriate things to a pumpkin and got caught. I am slightly relieved...
 
  • #12
I don't understand how it could have possibly gone 3-4 times farther then they expected. If you factor in the fact that it only went 150 yards because it hit a high object who knows how far it was actualy gona go. Must have been the same crew that demo'd a car in my high school auto class...
 
  • #13
magpies said:
I don't understand how it could have possibly gone 3-4 times farther then they expected. If you factor in the fact that it only went 150 yards because it hit a high object who knows how far it was actualy gona go. Must have been the same crew that demo'd a car in my high school auto class...

My guess: either it hit about 2 feet lower than expected or this was the most pathetic engineering team in the competition. It is indeed possible to hit the bullseye with a perfect shot, as was demonstrated by the Society of Automotive Engineers in the 2008 competition.

An article previewing the event: http://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/2009/039-pumpkin-launch.html

Actually, I'm really disturbed having read the preview. I had no idea they were using pumpkins with faces on them! :cry:
 
  • #14
From the article:
"They had no idea how far it was going to go,'' Brush said. "You know, with engineering projects, they usually don't work out the first time."
:smile: Might want to think twice before hiring engineers graduating from CSUF.
 
  • #15
Another group just set a world record of 4600 feet!

2027599.jpg
 
  • #16
Borek said:
Hopefully students involved will not work on any future Mars missions.

Right...they would have to call it the [STRIKE]Mars[/STRIKE] Saturn mission.
 
  • #17
mgb_phys said:
Another group just set a world record of 4600 feet!

2027599.jpg

Considering that's the Big 10 team, I would expect their distance to be longer than advertised (by at least 10%).
 
  • #18
lisab said:
Right...they would have to call it the [STRIKE]Mars[/STRIKE] Saturn mission.

That is hilarious.
 

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