Stomp catapult

A catapult without springs or weights, powered by kids stomping on it.
Have been able to shoot small potatoes over 45 meters or 150 feet with it. Much further than a comparable size trebuchet ever would!
Safe? Well, without springs or weights to power it, it can never go off by accident. But any contraption that throws something has some inherent risk to it.

[@gregmize01]

having Matthias as a dad is basically a cheat code.

[@Krais3r]

FR. Imagine wanting to learn about something and being able to with him and not getting in trouble for being curious

[@garciaemilio]

its not even fair to the rest of us dads.

[@Krais3r]

@@garciaemilio If you're even trying you're doing better than most, keep it up bro!

[@jimsjacob]

Yeah, talk about winning the genetic lottery!

[@jivejunior8753]

Bold move comparing him to a video game term when he's made it clear he hates video games

[@seanc215]

"Two of them? Yeah, okay, sure." Spoken like a certified fun dad.

[@unboxerman12]

Building those "Just dangerous enough to be more fun than what you can buy" projects with my dad growing up was always the most fun, and inspired my lifelong love of making.

[@joejane9977]

as a kid we had lawn darts they were safe enough

[@MrLightPanda]

That was what my brother and I did in the summer. Make dangerous stuff. Rocket kit turned into rocket launcher... molotov cocktails, torches, sparring pads...

[@gordbell3128]

@@MrLightPanda Same here. Mixed gasoline with dirt for flammable mud, we made Drano bombs, made gunpowder from raw ingredients in a drug store.

[@daveduncan9005]

I also love how Toys By Matthias come complete with physics lessons explaining inertia, properties of materials and projectiles, AND the safety disclaimer.

[@95thousandroses]

His kids wont even fully realize how cool their dad is until they are in their 30's

[@oBuLLzEyEo1013]

Are you high? School projects, science fairs, all the stuff in their rooms is made out of wood... 😅

[@bmxscape]

@@oBuLLzEyEo1013 yes and it just so happens kids dont have the ability to fully understand, especially since it's been part of their lives since they were born. eventually they will spread out from mom and dads home and find that most people buy junky ikea furniture, and dont have an amazing father that has the time knowledge and enthusiasm to consistently build projects all around the house. at that point they will try and figure out why nothing is as good as they had when they were growing up, and will come to the realization that their dad is a fantastic wood worker (if it wasnt obvious by this time to them)

[@oBuLLzEyEo1013]

@@bmxscape Yes, even. As in you are high? You must be after typing all that twaddle... 😅 I am high tho, Grape Gasoline, cheers...

[@louisfkoorts5590]

​@@oBuLLzEyEo1013 Bull's 👁️ full-0 🐂 💩 🎉

[@littlebrother82]

Not to mention the fact that they'll be competent woodworkers and constantly astonished at how others don't know how to do things.@@bmxscape

[@Norman_Fleming]

"just unsafe enough..." exactly. risk vs reward is the thrill in all of life.

[@harkbelial]

If I had this technology as a kid it would take us probably 5 min to start throwing rocks at each other.

[@fritterdrummer1258]

It’s like a foot pedal to a drum set bass drum! Excellent!!

[@Crlarl]

Now that you mention it, it does resemble a drum pedal a lot.

[@stevesnep]

Hi Matthias, I thought about a ‘safe’ catapult for kids events for a while. But didn’t come up with a satisfactory solution. I really like your design!

[@matthiaswandel]

The scouts built tiny catapults with plastic spoons and forks. Worked surprisingly well, and not dangerous.

[@Lizlodude]

@@matthiaswandel That gives me flashbacks to pull-tab cans and sporks in middle school. I'm surprised they didn't ban vienna sausage given how many things are probably still stuck in the ceiling tiles.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

This is great! Needs to go with some lawn targets. I may build one of these. The multi function of the rope linkage is great.

[@dmwahl]

Seems like a perfect pairing for a cornhole set

[@cooperised]

I don't think I really need plans to build one, but I'd buy plans if they were available just to support this kind of effort!

[@wojomojo]

Other competitive dads in the same scout group: "Hate that Matthias dude, always one-upping everyone on projects"

[@milehighslacker4196]

also other dads: can you make me one?!?!

[@jaredwebster3620]

I don't know about buying plans for this catapult specifically, but wooden kids toys in general, I'd buy those plans.

[@asailijhijr]

The rope hinge is more wide open which reduces the likelihood of finger injuries when multiple people (especially children) are inspecting the mechanism.

[@R3dream3r]

Great idea, which i immediately put into my kids playlist, to build it sometime along the years. Thank you Matthias for sharing it!

[@johnbush8224]

Brings back memories with my Dad for sure. Thank you! Would definitely buy plans Matthias.

[@Mr2at]

Yep, I’d buy plans

[@mully006]

I need an efficency calculation /tuning video. I think this would be right up your ally.

[@larslindgren3846]

I think he should add a sling so the arm almost comes to a standstill before release to not waste kinetic energy on the arm.

[@gwmgbwi]

“Beaver scouts?” Now that’s a great band name!

[@TomGabriele]

Just a thought for anyone looking to iterate on this further: the projectile-holding curve could be made with a decreasing radius that should further increase the speed as the projectile rolls/slides from the larger-radius "heel" of the curve, to the smaller-radius "toe". Same idea as a hockey stick or jai alai cesta.

[@HughReeves]

Building one today for my kids! Love your videos!

[@xyzzy7145]

now you need to build a trebuchet ...

[@bami2]

This is actually a traction trebuchet (also called a mangonel, not to be confused with torsion engines/onagers of the roman empire), popular in the early middle ages.

[@leifhietala8074]

He did. This is a trebuchet with truncated travel. It's essentially a traction trebuchet with only about half the usual rotation. It also lacks the sling that makes a trebuchet so much more effective in transferring energy to its projectile so it's like an onager in those respects, but the drive is trebuchet, tilted 90 degrees.

[@ericperkins3078]

@@leifhietala8074> what they said.

[@sliceofbread2611]

@@bami2 a mangonel is the natural enemy of any group of archers

[@Bbeaucha88]

Oh man! Thank you! This is an amazing project idea for my daughter and I! I am excited.

[@FrietjeOorlog]

Weaponizing children's toys always gets my like.

[@ericperkins3078]

Weapons were the first kids toys. We call it training.

[@ChrisRovers0]

Definitely going on the build list for the next trip to the cottage

[@fredjunk2005]

PLANS please! Id love to reproduce this soon with my kids! We've built many catapults with them but this one nails it!

[@Antti_Nannimus]

A ballistic calculus merit-badge course should be a requirement before allowing a kid to jump on it, so they will know their damage potential in advance. Yeah that's it, The Responsible Scout's Trebuchet Ballistic Calculus Merit Badge.

[@deanrambler9006]

That's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

[@tuentertube]

Plans plz! Kids love the video 😅

[@ZylonFPV]

It worked surprisingly well!

[@MazeFrame]

I can not wait for the follow up video diving into all sorts of optimizations.

[@matthiasburger2315]

That was awesome! I have experimented with such contraptions and noticed that the flexibility of the levers is important. Firstly it reduces the forces in all joints and hinges, because it takes more time to transfer the momentum. Secondly the transfer of energy seems to be more efficient, I have done sone calculations (but given up as the differential equations turned out a bit nasty) and had the vage theory that the energy transfer can be maximised by an ideal combination of flexibility and rotational intertia of the levers.

[@natecz8141]

2 of these and a couple coolers full of water balloons sounds like a great day

[@wasdaletimelapse7658]

The other parents must hate events that involve science🤣😂🤣 Great job Matthias.

[@jsax01001010]

This is fantastic. The design is so simple and elegant. With some slight adjustments to the geometry, I think you could get the arm to start decelerating before it gets completely vertical. Then you could use a deeper well to hold the projectile and still get a clean release. I think I'm going to have to build one just for me to play with. 😁

[@MichaelKieweg]

I would buy the plans. Greetings from Germany

[@turkeytrac1]

Plans? Yes pleass

[@dantesmith3664]

another great video. thank you

[@emanwe01]

That's a really clever design!

[@justayoutuber1906]

Cool design!!

[@ekw555]

I have little doubt that you rank as the "coolest Dad" in your son's group.

[@MCsCreations]

Brilliant, Matthias! Fantastic work! 😃 I always wanted to build something like that! 😂 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@luciflash]

I'm not the plan buying type, but I would definitely buy plans for this. I usually customize plans to fit my needs, but this project does not need anything added.

[@naptastic]

This is so awesome. Now you need 5x oversized cornhole targets for the bigger scouts! Anything fun involves releasing lots of potential energy. There's always a risk that energy could get misdirected and hurt somebody. Since the only source of energy the system has is the kids stomping on it, and you have soft and hard limits to how fast the arm can accelerate, AND you control the projectile's properties, you've made something that's a lot of fun to play with and pretty safe.

[@zachsg28]

Kid thought... Needs a board across the stomping board so two people can try at the same time. But you'd be getting close to yard dart territory. lol

[@awldune]

Might have to try and build one!

[@joethompson11]

Definitely interested in that as a plan, any other cool things to make for kids too!

[@ofiasdfnosdf]

Thanks!

[@thedude8046]

Very cool!

[@peterdguru]

Mrs. Wandel ; " I guess we're having takeout for dinner. I can't find any potatoes"

[@JimPeachley]

Wonderful kids project. By hinging the back end of the jump-stick to a base plate, you would eliminate the tipping forward and make the catapult basically a single unit.

[@paulkline515]

"Stomp Catapult" Heck, I'd buy just the name, you should register it.

[@Syntappi]

Oh man this brings back memories! Back in 2004 when i was in school, we designed and made catapults in the technical work class. Of course we had competition afterwards of as to whose roll of paper shot with a catapult flew the furthest 😀

[@laurentprat2274]

i ve just build one for my daughter, she loves it. thaks Mathias,

[@chrischristides]

Excellent !!!.

[@Saavik256]

Is that your kid ? Damn time flies! :) You're the best dad a kid could want, sir. :)

[@fredzyda]

I would definitely be interested in buying plans for that.

[@FabricateUnclear]

I’m 100% going to make this!! My kids and nephews/nieces will love it. 5:24

[@oliver9089]

Kids getting so big!

[@silasdonham8320]

This is so fantastic! You had two hours?? When did you design it? I would totally love plans but will also stumble through it on my own if you don’t post them.

[@lastlight11]

plans needed, so much fun.

[@thomashverring9484]

Love it!

[@chrisemens4022]

I’m not usually interested in buying plans, but I would be interested in this case!

[@roman_sudneko]

Don't know why, but building toys resonate with me for some risone. Thanks!

[@josephpotterf9459]

Grandkids gonna love this thanks

[@NicoSmets]

That's just great!

[@MRrwmac]

Matthias. Sooo cool for the kids (maybe a big kid like me also). Great idea and quick build. (How many did Mom catch at the end of the dirveway)? Anyway, when you said the big boys liked it the best, I had to laugh imagining the little boys being kind of gotten in front of in the line, causing the little ones to be further and further back in the line and never getting a chance….haha

[@benkilgore]

Aw, I was hoping to see you do something like calculate the efficiency by dropping a known weight on it from a known height and measuring (using video) the exit velocity of a known weight.

[@slaphead2965]

We need a follow up episode with spreadsheet showing optimal angles and velocities for variable projectiles. ...or just a video showing more stomping! 😁

[@alexanderkononov1113]

Nice!

[@HiVizCamo]

Risky toys, brings back memories of ready unsupervised access to lawn darts and BB guns 😅 Love it.

[@prototype3a]

You could probably extend the supports to the front some to reduce the tipping moment and also tweak the front linkage positions and release angle to work similar to a trebuchet.

[@matthiaswandel]

Those supports would ideally be longer, but those were the lengths of the scraps I decided to use. Those pieces actually have holes in them from using as targets for my air gun.

[@bradley3549]

I love that and I know my kids would get a kick out of it. Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend...

[@Smurf_Hearse_368]

Not sure plans are required or build it, but I’d gladly buy a set if you make them!

[@natewood4731]

Awesome project! I wonder what a lacrosse head would do in a contraption like this.

[@ajlehn2]

Would love to see a set of plans. My grandsons would love it. They already have a rubber-band powered catapult for ping pong balls.

[@ecsyntric]

surprisingly one articulation joint can make the projectile much farther

[@1pcfred]

Signs suggest wood elves are on the warpath.

[@lydiahanke]

Dad of the year!

[@seanedging6543]

Rachel just non-chalantly gardening in the line of fire lol

[@Metal-Possum]

How to earn the reputation of coolest dad.

[@louisfkoorts5590]

Great fun. 👍🏻

[@bborkzilla]

What next, Balista? Trebuchet? I can't wait!

[@DickvanZanten]

Hello Matthias, I'd be interested in a drawing. There the perfect gift for young schoolkids or scouts. Needs some supervision though.😉

[@killymxi]

As an alternative to hard stop, maybe you can add another rope (or a rubber band rather), so it slows down more gradually around the separation point.

[@TheMangrovejack1]

Brilliant, an ancient principal with a modern twist. Scouts and cubs would love this .

[@ericperkins3078]

That's . . . who. . . he built it . . . for . . .?

[@johnstarkie9948]

Principle.

[@larry78cj7]

Awesome

[@paulfrizzell31]

👍great video

[@BalugaWhale37]

I'd love to rework this to use the trebuchet launch method to generate more range and power from the stomp. My favorite version is the walking trebuchet which you can find on youtube. Alas, that version does suffer from self-destruction after a few hours of use.

[@ryant2389]

Suddenly I feel a subliminal need to purchase a sit/stand desk.

[@piccilos]

Please sell plans for this, looks fun.

[@GoblinKnightLeo]

I'd be interested in plans for a scaled-down version that you can activate by slapping it with your hand or a mallet - I don't have enough land to make use of your full-sized version.

[@CitizenAyellowblue]

Ah, new channel. Matthias Medieval. 😂

[@ImprovementsAroundThePlace]

Thats cool.

[@VAXHeadroom]

Going to make one of these to take to the Pennsic War (reenactment) this year! and maybe an adult sized one!! :)

[@EitriBrokkr]

My nephews would love that

[@jeffspaulding9834]

While I enjoy watching this channel, my woodworking is more the traditional furniture type stuff and I'm rarely tempted to follow any of the builds. But this - this is just cool. I might just build this.

[@JamesSeal]

Please make plans. I would love to make this with my kids.

[@fegolem]

Neat!

[@cnhoffman]

I'd be interested in buying plans

[@stumpingrimy1686]

yes! hand tools plan?