So it begins...

Alright, here is the deal. I'm a student at Colorado School of Mines, where we have an annual engineering fest called E-Days. It's filled with all sort of quirky competitions, one of which it the trebuchet contest. Unlike many others, this contest is for accuracy rather than distance, trying to hit little castles at various distances. No size or counterweight restrictions, but you must throw a full gallon of water as a projectile. It is currently spring break, over which I have built the arm, leaving two weeks and some days to build the frame and test. Good news is, my colleague and I have already designed every part of the trebuchet in solidworks, with the exception of the counterweight buckets. Unable to locate any weight plates in significant enough numbers, we were planning on using large buckets with concrete. Now, let the fun begin....