[EricH]

Originally Posted by vivek16

The ideal angle is 45 degrees. Half of your energy goes to propelling it forward and half goes to keeping it in the air. You will get the maximum distance for this.

Not necessarily. Ignoring air resistance, you are right (I think--I'm trying to remember my physics.) But as soon as air resistance enters the picture, you need to tweak. In 2006, very few robots shot at 45 degrees; most shot at about 30 degrees. This is a slightly different case, though.

You might try adding a backspin, though I am not sure if that would help or hurt due to a non-uniform load.