Bungee drop / Precision through data
A simple device with a difficult prediction problem: drop an unknown mass from a given height, stop as close to the floor as possible, and never touch it.
01 / A simple mechanism
Reduce the variables in the hardware.
The device combined reusable paracord with a short doubled length of flight rubber. Minimizing the amount of elastic reduced replacement cost and variability, while keeping cord length as the adjustment for each drop.
02 / Model the behavior
Turn a test grid into a prediction.
The event covered masses from 50 to 600 grams and drop heights from 5 to 10 meters. Rather than test every combination, I collected measurements at 50-gram and 50-centimeter intervals and used polynomial regression to estimate the required cord length.