Launch TV's, or laser printers through a heavy steel grate. (optional: a set of bars, whatever looks best when played back in slow-motion)

The far side of the target will have a catch bin so all parts making it through can be weighed. Parts stuck in the holes don't count.

The team's ammunition consists of several identical TV sets (retired hotel TV's). The challenge is to build a device to launch them into the grating at the highest velocity possible. The team that gets the most parts through by weight wins. The launcher will fire into an enclosed, lexan guide / shield / enclosure at close range, so aiming is not an issue. Position and speed are all that matter. Plastic-framed laser printers or other complex, breakable objects may be substituted for TV's)

(This comes from an idea for a travelling Smash-O-Matic, stopping in towns where prople can bring items they wish to dispose of and have them blasted into a steel plate for a small fee. A high speed video camera/recorder will supply slo-mo videotapes of the action at an additional charge.) (I have a couple of old laser printers I'd like to submit to this treatment :-)

-- Douglas Warner (dwarner@gw.total-web.net), January 25, 2001

Answers

Thats just wierd man. But I don't think it would be very acurate due to one team becoming lucky because a bigger piece flew off. And as far as travelling around smashing peoples stuff for a small fee, I don't think I would want to pay someone else to smash my crap for me.

-- www.geocities.com/kablamotheclown (kablamotheclown@yahoo.com), January 25, 2001.

Bigger pieces flying off would not count. Only the stuff that goes THROUGH the holes in the grate count, so the initial position of the object when it hits, and the speed are the biggest factors. Another way to enhance the competition is to allow more than one TV to be tossed in 1-2 minutes. This way, the teams can elect to heave several in one shot or build an autoloading launcher. (The TV must leave the launcher in one piece. It can't be pre-shredded :-) I think the visual of a familiar object being blasted through an array of small holes in slow motion would be more attractive than watching pumpkins fly though the air... Thoughts: Spinning tires, as in a baseball throwing machine. A giant slingshot powered by car springs. A rotary sling.. Spin them around, and release at the right moment. (Get the timing off, and they go flying elsewhere.) Rocket sled (steam powered?). Air cannon (been done). High speed winch pulls TV from opposite side of grate with steel cable. (Slow reload time). We're talking about extremely violent high speed collisions resulting in smoke, sparks, flying pieces, just the thing good television is made of. (Hmm, the TV's could be turned on and displaying the show logo at the time of impact :-)

-- Doug Warner (dwarner@gw.total-web.net), January 25, 2001.

I like the idea, but it sounds like it would work really well as a show of it's own. Sounds like some wierd Japanese game show. "You can either choose to get in a sleeping-bag with live scorpions or let us smash all of your home appliances!!!"

-- www.geocities.com/kablamotheclown (kablamotheclown@yahoo.com), January 26, 2001.

YES! have the tv's on and hooked to vcr's george and robert screaming on screen. most mass trhu screen wins. YES! this would be tooo cool.

-- Stephen A. Binion (Stephenbinion@hotmail.com), January 26, 2001.