hey can u send me blueprints or plans to some of your,s recent projects would love to use them for me ideas i gust and help u help me kinda way care to share? @BLitwin
this could be a time machine a long shot but uh scence thats copper make it magnetic propelled to spin very fast and instead a ball or wait make it a laser or laser/ferrofluid magnetic pulse oiltoner+vegetable oil = ferrofluid/magentic liquid ha try that one hehe. @BLitiwn
Well, it still works every bit as well as the day it was done. So, I like it just fine, I guess. That's funny that you hear "Money" while it runs. Sort of reminds me of when they discovered you could play that album as the sound track to "The Wizard of Oz." They say, if you start the record, just as the lions in the MGM logo roar, everything syncs up, magically.
Ach! Wonderful stuff! Ive been a fan of kinetic art for years, mostly finding stuff accidentally on the web. Just found you this past week and have stared for hours at your videos. Incredible!
Do you take requests? Id like to see a version of this firing a ball four times per revolution, so that three or four balls are in the air at once.
Though I maybe wrong, this is in response to kd1s. I believe that it's one of newton's laws, Every object remains in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. So as long as the funnel is moving at a contain rate, then it works. Physics FTW!!
It's powered by a 60RPM, 110V AC, surplus motor, with a 1:2 reduction timing belt drive. I'd like to make some wind-up things, sometime, too. My friend, Gina Kamentsky does this. She's got some great videos, here.
My god. This (and all of your machines) are so incredible. I am mesmerized. I could watch this for hours. It is now a life goal of mine to see these in person.
Phenomenal. I must tell all of my engineer friends. So fantastic. I'm just blown away.
The Rotapult took about six weeks to build, though not straight through. If I'd worked on it full time, I think it would have taken about three weeks. And I spent about a month in the design phase. This is the fifth or sixth design iteration - most of the revisions having to do with the catcher and reloading mechanisms.
Yeah, yeah, yeah...email me when you've got the roto-octopult. THEN you can come use my farm to build anything you damn well please!!! :) (And my dad will help!) - Andy from PennPAT
You can just adjust the aim until you get it right - because the shooting angle wont change. Same as aiming a static cannon to shoot at something. Right?
That's correct. The offset angle is fixed. The range and height of the trajectory are slightly adjustable by spring tension and throwing arm stop position. Once set, it will repeat until something wears out, or if there is a significant change in the Earth's gravity. -Brad
The circular motion of the 'contraption' must give any particle fired *directly* upwards a tangential velocity.
So, are you kind of firing it backwards against the tangential direction at the firing point along with a radial velocity component across the diameter of the circular track?
This (any your other constructions) are facinating.
You're on the right track. It doesn't shoot straight up, though. The ball is released at ~12° above horz. The flight takes 1 second to go the distance traversed by the target, along a 180° arc, @ 30RPM. The catapult is aimed at an angle ahead of the target, integrating the tangent vector; about 58° in this case. This was a fun problem to solve, and I'm happy to say that the working model came very close to the theoretical parameters, as calculated. -BL
I must say, this is one of the most fantastic pieces of machinery I have ever seen. I applaud your efforts in creating such wonderful little contraptions.
Good question. Once in a while, the ball will bounce out of the cone, but you don't have to stop it to put it back in. The moving parts in this one are all metal, with oilite, bronze, and needle bearings. So, it's made to go a long, long time without needing any attention.
Never mind...I just saw the beginning again, and it showed you loading one ball in the hopper, and the other one in the "launcher". Thanks again for such a great show.
Thanks for your enthusiasm! Yes, there are two balls. I had hoped to make it work with a one ball design, knowing the ball might not have enough time to settle into the launch cup, after being caught. You'll notice that it sometimes does a little spin in the funnel. With only about 600 miliseconds to get reloaded, that was a problem. So, one ball is loaded, immediately after the other is launched.
I have to agree...the angles are very kewl. I also like the one looking up from below and showing the ball being caught by the cup (at about 2:00 on the timer).
I love these... can they be bought?
gunder71 5 months ago
Soo hypnotic !! Mesmerising.
patrickcorliss 1 year ago
I just can't resist looking at such accurate catapulting devices! So much, that i've built one myself! Yours is a little more impressive, though! :O
MrKaddan 1 year ago
Awsome. Da Vinci would be proud.
LapisLee 1 year ago
This is marvellous. When the camera was spinning filming the cone, did you have to recalibrate the whole machine?
You are a genious of the superfluous!
yannoche 1 year ago
Thank you!
I had a rig, which put most of the camera weight on the center post. So, there was very little interference with the mechanism.
-B
BLitwin 1 year ago
hey can u send me blueprints or plans to some of your,s recent projects would love to use them for me ideas i gust and help u help me kinda way care to share? @BLitwin
inr21sevier 1 year ago
Sorry. Homey don't play dat.
BLitwin 1 year ago
this could be a time machine a long shot but uh scence thats copper make it magnetic propelled to spin very fast and instead a ball or wait make it a laser or laser/ferrofluid magnetic pulse oiltoner+vegetable oil = ferrofluid/magentic liquid ha try that one hehe. @BLitiwn
inr21sevier 1 year ago
freakkin awesome ..can i use this rhythm? Brad that is just incrdibiible!!
stephendijoseph 1 year ago
put a string on that baby and it'll be an automated ball-in-a-cup.
Khal337 1 year ago
Oh geezis! Now look what you made me think about! Curse you curse you curse you! 8^D
BLitwin 1 year ago
After 3 three years.... how do you like it?
Reminds me of PinkFloyd : Money. You too? RsVP if so. Michele.
Michelefox09 1 year ago
Well, it still works every bit as well as the day it was done. So, I like it just fine, I guess. That's funny that you hear "Money" while it runs. Sort of reminds me of when they discovered you could play that album as the sound track to "The Wizard of Oz." They say, if you start the record, just as the lions in the MGM logo roar, everything syncs up, magically.
BLitwin 1 year ago
June 2010- I just figured it out, the tune, when my mind started singing "Money" by Pink Floyd. Hypnotic and relaxing. Thank you!
Michelefox09 1 year ago
I'm reminded of that song by Styx. Too much time on my hands.
But seriously, some of these inventions should be sampled. Put these together and make a song.
DURound 2 years ago
The best kind of Kinetic Art ... Totally useless.
hammerogod 2 years ago
not really usefull...but verry astonishing =)
Mantichor 2 years ago
This is really awesome! Nice!
hotprinka 2 years ago
lols
hypersupermamado 2 years ago
... i think i'm in love...
Sammo20001994 2 years ago
I love the rhythm of this thing! I'd do a song to it if I had my guitar here.
brandthedog 2 years ago
i need this guy for my baseball team!
novelist10 2 years ago
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
perfect
stezii 3 years ago
Yes!
Karlfalcon 3 years ago
Ach! Wonderful stuff! Ive been a fan of kinetic art for years, mostly finding stuff accidentally on the web. Just found you this past week and have stared for hours at your videos. Incredible!
Do you take requests? Id like to see a version of this firing a ball four times per revolution, so that three or four balls are in the air at once.
Makes me want to take machine shop classes. . . .
screamingdingo 3 years ago
I took machine shop class. For something like this take art.
kingmike40 2 years ago
hypnotiq
redsnakehead 3 years ago
I sold that at my Garage sale.. I wondered who bought it..
ManTigerBMW 3 years ago
Very cool. Nicely photographed too. You should add a hoop at the top for the ball to jump through.
PhotoTimeMachine 3 years ago
nice man this must have been hard to do
daniellopezd 3 years ago
Medieval doomsday-device?
piratakamrata 3 years ago 5
Shhhhhhh!!
BLitwin 3 years ago
Did you just shhhhh me? How rude
piratakamrata 3 years ago 3
I just don't want anyone to know of my secret plans to take over the world! Mwahahahaha!
BLitwin 3 years ago
I KNEW IT! You work for the Illuminati!
piratakamrata 3 years ago 9
Good job!
Though I maybe wrong, this is in response to kd1s. I believe that it's one of newton's laws, Every object remains in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. So as long as the funnel is moving at a contain rate, then it works. Physics FTW!!
iwashere1990 3 years ago
I can just imagine the math involved on this, the Octapult etc. Good job!
kd1s 3 years ago
Its awesome!!!
Is it wind up or batery powered?
I've always wanted to build clockwork animals with windup keys
darthminimall 3 years ago
It's powered by a 60RPM, 110V AC, surplus motor, with a 1:2 reduction timing belt drive. I'd like to make some wind-up things, sometime, too. My friend, Gina Kamentsky does this. She's got some great videos, here.
BLitwin 3 years ago
it'd be neat to have two arms rotating at 1hz and phased so the ball is caught at a moving point corresponding to clock hands.
shiroakaishi 3 years ago
Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you, there! -Brad
BLitwin 3 years ago
You are my god.
chrisdamato 3 years ago
that is awesome man
lewisjmkennedy01 3 years ago
My god. This (and all of your machines) are so incredible. I am mesmerized. I could watch this for hours. It is now a life goal of mine to see these in person.
Phenomenal. I must tell all of my engineer friends. So fantastic. I'm just blown away.
Pip2andahalf 3 years ago
Wow!
aklego 4 years ago
cooooool! 8-)
SebiTimeWaster 4 years ago
You cheated and used two balls! Just kidding awesome contraption.
ociemitchell 4 years ago
Bravo!
You are Leonardo's succesor
Dragonet666 4 years ago
Your machines are incredible, and extremly complex. How long time does your machines take to make (approx.)?
pudidotdk 4 years ago 2
The Rotapult took about six weeks to build, though not straight through. If I'd worked on it full time, I think it would have taken about three weeks. And I spent about a month in the design phase. This is the fifth or sixth design iteration - most of the revisions having to do with the catcher and reloading mechanisms.
BLitwin 4 years ago
Yeah, yeah, yeah...email me when you've got the roto-octopult. THEN you can come use my farm to build anything you damn well please!!! :) (And my dad will help!) - Andy from PennPAT
lilirmaes 4 years ago
You can just adjust the aim until you get it right - because the shooting angle wont change. Same as aiming a static cannon to shoot at something. Right?
olppa1 4 years ago
That's correct. The offset angle is fixed. The range and height of the trajectory are slightly adjustable by spring tension and throwing arm stop position. Once set, it will repeat until something wears out, or if there is a significant change in the Earth's gravity. -Brad
BLitwin 4 years ago
Scratching my head a little.
The circular motion of the 'contraption' must give any particle fired *directly* upwards a tangential velocity.
So, are you kind of firing it backwards against the tangential direction at the firing point along with a radial velocity component across the diameter of the circular track?
This (any your other constructions) are facinating.
Thanks you for showing them to us!
pw3uk 4 years ago
You're on the right track. It doesn't shoot straight up, though. The ball is released at ~12° above horz. The flight takes 1 second to go the distance traversed by the target, along a 180° arc, @ 30RPM. The catapult is aimed at an angle ahead of the target, integrating the tangent vector; about 58° in this case. This was a fun problem to solve, and I'm happy to say that the working model came very close to the theoretical parameters, as calculated. -BL
BLitwin 4 years ago
Great stuff. I was thinking of a hypothetical 'straight up' ball, so one could figure out what the rotational motion would do. :)
Yeah, that sounds like a neat little problem you solved there and what a fantastic way of showing your results!!
I'm looking forward to any further work you have plotted seeing the light of day. Keep it up!
pw3uk 4 years ago
neato!
it has a good beat
you can dance to it
i give it a 5 out of 5
richragsdale 4 years ago
I'm amazed just like a small child :D
FromNextFriday 4 years ago
Cool... yeah all I meant was is this how you make money. Awesome stuff!
baloneysandwich 4 years ago
Is this your day job?
baloneysandwich 4 years ago
It's kind of hard to answer that question. Is being an independent artist a "job?" If it is, then the answer is "yes."
-B
BLitwin 4 years ago
cooool! looks so amazing from the camera angle above :D
leirgauk 4 years ago
Saw the Octa first, then the quad, then this.
Love the improvement in flow and design of the
Octa over the Quad, but for sure this is the most
true machine of the three (tho my heart still belongs
to the Octapult and its beautiful wooden warmth. Great stuff man!
ddudioo 4 years ago
I must say, this is one of the most fantastic pieces of machinery I have ever seen. I applaud your efforts in creating such wonderful little contraptions.
cabeci 4 years ago
More more!
antdude 4 years ago
A wondeful piece of machinery. How long can it keep going before there's break down?
freesasha 4 years ago
Good question. Once in a while, the ball will bounce out of the cone, but you don't have to stop it to put it back in. The moving parts in this one are all metal, with oilite, bronze, and needle bearings. So, it's made to go a long, long time without needing any attention.
BLitwin 4 years ago
Are there two balls, or just one...I can't figure this one out?
DonGatto63 4 years ago
Never mind...I just saw the beginning again, and it showed you loading one ball in the hopper, and the other one in the "launcher". Thanks again for such a great show.
DonGatto63 4 years ago
Thanks for your enthusiasm! Yes, there are two balls. I had hoped to make it work with a one ball design, knowing the ball might not have enough time to settle into the launch cup, after being caught. You'll notice that it sometimes does a little spin in the funnel. With only about 600 miliseconds to get reloaded, that was a problem. So, one ball is loaded, immediately after the other is launched.
-Brad
BLitwin 4 years ago
That was beautiful...
The beat the machine makes is beautiful, too.
Sandurz 4 years ago
i love all these great angles you get in your video. the view looking down was the coolest.
these things are mesmerizing!
residentskitz 4 years ago
I have to agree...the angles are very kewl. I also like the one looking up from below and showing the ball being caught by the cup (at about 2:00 on the timer).
DonGatto63 4 years ago