Engineering students score with pumpkin

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses an engineering experiment involving a pumpkin launcher that unexpectedly overshot its intended target, leading to humorous reflections and critiques of the engineering process. The scope includes experimental design, engineering challenges, and light-hearted commentary on the outcomes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express surprise at the pumpkin's distance, noting it overshot the target by a significant margin.
  • There are humorous remarks about the engineering team's skills and the implications for future engineering projects, including space missions.
  • Participants question the design and execution of the cannon, with some suggesting that the shot was poorly aimed while others highlight the ingenuity of the design.
  • Some participants share nostalgic memories of similar engineering projects, such as potato launchers, and compare them to the pumpkin launcher.
  • Concerns are raised about the lack of mathematical planning in the project, with some participants suggesting that this could lead to disastrous outcomes.
  • One participant references a previous engineering competition to contrast the performance of the current group with a more successful team.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the effectiveness of the engineering design or the skills of the students involved. Multiple competing views on the quality of the engineering and the outcomes of the experiment remain present.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions regarding the calculations and assumptions made by the students, as well as the overall effectiveness of their engineering approach.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in engineering experiments, project design, and humorous takes on student engineering endeavors may find this discussion engaging.

Ivan Seeking
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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.