Tom Stanton成功研制出一台完全依靠重力驱动的弩炮装置，将4克的抛体加速至776英里/小时，首次实现了纯机械系统的超音速射击[1]。这一成就标志着该速度超过音速9英里/小时，并产生了可听闻的音爆[1]。
该装置采用创新的3:1比例滑轮系统，由40公斤的重物驱动[1]。弩炮采用仅116克的碳纤维臂，在射击时转速达到2342转/分钟[1]。抛体在5.6毫秒内飞行1.94米，对应速度为346.4米/秒[1]。这套系统通过精确的释放机制克服了物理限制，释放窗口仅为几毫秒[1]。在该配置下，整个系统的效率达到43.7%[1]。
Engineer Tom Stanton has successfully demonstrated a gravity-driven trebuchet that accelerates a projectile to 776 miles per hour, breaking the sound barrier for the first time in such a device.[1] The 4-gram projectile exceeded the speed of sound by 9 miles per hour, producing an audible sonic boom during testing.[1]
The breakthrough was achieved through an innovative mechanical design featuring a 3:1 pulley system driven by a 40-kilogram weight.[1] The apparatus employs a carbon fiber arm weighing only 116 grams that rotates at 2,342 revolutions per minute, launching the projectile over a distance of 1.94 meters in just 5.6 milliseconds.[1] The projectile reaches a velocity of 346.4 meters per second at release.[1] The system operates with a release window of mere milliseconds and demonstrates a mechanical efficiency of 43.7 percent in the 40-kilogram configuration tested.[1]