a custom application to analyze the mechanical properties of a bow accurately and consistently
For many years one of my hobbies was archery. A more technical aspect of archery is something called a force draw curve. Using a bow's draw weight (in pounds) for every inch of pull, it is possible to calculate the amount of kinetic energy stored in the bow. The force draw curve is a visual representation of that energy. Using arrows of various weights and a chronograph, it is also possible to calculate the amount of force (in foot pounds) that is being transferred to the arrows.
As an exercise to further my self-taught programming skill with C, I decided to write a program that would calculate and draw a force draw curve, determine the kinetic energy stored in the bow, and the amount of force the bow would transfer to an arrow. The problem, though, was I didn't know the formulas used to do the calculations. I needed help.
At the time, a man named Norb Mullaney tested new bows and reported his findings in Bow and Arrow magazine. His articles always included force draw curves, so I wrote to him and offered to send him a copy of the finished program in exchange for the formulas and other specifics. At the time, he was spending nearly 2 hours per bow using a hand calculator to crunch the numbers. Needless to say, he jumped at the chance to obtain a computer program.
Based on Norb's criteria, I created input screens, reports, a file structure so that information could be stored and reused by the program. I also wrote an instruction manual for it. I called the program BOWTECH.
Norb loved it and soon told Larry Wise about it. Larry was the reigning world champion archer at the time who did consulting work for a few bow manufacturers. Larry and I met at an archery event one day, and I gave him a copy of the program, which he later used to evaluate new bow designs.
A few years later, I got a call from Indian Archery Co. asking if it could purchase a copy of BOWTECH. I was flattered that a major bow manufacturer thought enough of my program to want to buy it. BOWTECH was my first software sale.