Recovery System
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The recovery system's objective is to guarantee that, after launch, the ball always return to the catapult’s head in its initial position, using only the effect of gravity.
It consists of three parts, one big ramp below the basket and two small ramps on each side of the catapult. All of them are inclined, with the lowest end closest to the catapult. A cut was made in the big ramp to allow the arm of the catapult more freedom. The time the ball takes to resume its position is far bigger than the time it takes for the catapult to go back to the initial stage, so no extra efforts were needed to slow down or block the ball.
All the different pieces are made out of 3mm MDF sheets. This allowed to laser cut the pieces. The assembly was achieved by combining teeth-hole pairs with M3 screws. Cross-shaped cuts were made to receive the screws and nuts. Each cross-shaped cut is matched by a hole in another part.