This fall, I was able to take GEEN 2400 which is a projects class designated for only client based projects. Our team, BallBuddy, was given the task of designing and creating a ball tossing machine for the Broomfield Heights Middle School Special Education department. Our client wanted us to design a machine that would allow mentally and physically disabled students to participate in Physical Education.

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We designed BallBuddyTM, the TM stands for tossing machine. This machine uses a wheel spinning on a DC Motor to launch a ball. One requirement of the project was the AbleNet Button compatibility; students at Broomfield Heights use AbleNet buttons, which are extremely sensetive, to perform daily activities, therefore our team had to make sure BallBuddyTM is AbleNet compatible. Using an Arduino and a servo, we were able to make a trapdoor like device that allows the student to use the button to allow the ball to travel down the chute.

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For this project, my role was electronics. I programmed the Arduino and Servo and also worked on the motor. We used a basic circuit to control the motor speed as seen below. I learned so much working on this project, the most difficult and educational part was connecting the electronic parts to the mechanical parts and getting the machine to perform.

 

Below are the Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, Poster, and more documents related to this project.