Ballista

In cyber, one instantly thinks about virtual security, often forgetting the importance of physical security. We made a tool for physical pen testing, capable of launching high velocity projectiles.

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Inspiration

I had previously built a trebuchet for Hackoverflow, so a ballista was just the next degree of difficulty.

What I Learned

Usually I buy the least amount of material possible and try to use scraps everywhere else. Usually, the parts of the project I skipped getting the correct material for end up suboptimal. This time I spent a little bit more for rope and large bolts. As a result, both the torsion spring and wheels turned out very well.

I also experimented more with metal parts, which came in handy.

How it was built

I started thinking about as much of the design I could a few days before the hackathon, and ended up with about 60% of the design roughly complete by the time the hackathon started. I transferred everything into CAD immediately as the hackathon started and then I followed the design until it was complete.

Built With

  • anglegrinder
  • bandsaw
  • cargostraps
  • drill
  • drillpress
  • freecad
  • impactdriver
  • jigsaw
  • oscillatingsaw
  • rope
  • screws
  • sheetmetal
  • tablesaw
  • wood
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