LaunchIt! The MotoLaunch System: An Arduino-Based Paper Plane Launcher for Consistent Flight Times

Overview

When flight testing different paper plane designs, it is important to maintain consistent launches of each plane to make fair comparisons. Manual methods are straightforward but are usually inconsistent. In this engineering project, a customizable motorized paper plane launcher (called MotoLaunch) is built to improve the consistency of aerodynamic experiments. Three different launching methods—using MotoLaunch, an accordion launcher, and by hand—were tested with 30 trials each (by recording flight times) and two different paper plane designs (a dart and a glider). For both planes, MotoLaunch had more consistent launches than its hand-thrown and accordion counterparts. The hand-thrown and accordion launchers were similar in consistency. These results support the conclusion that the motorized paper plane launcher is effective in keeping the paper plane launches sufficiently consistent for fair flight testing.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Applied Mechanics (Junior Division) · Entry J-02-23

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