Articulating Tennis Machine

Group 14

Members:

Jerrod Stock

David Villers

Instructor: Dr. Yenumula Reddy

Overview

• Problem Statement• Background• Architecture• Technologies• Innovative Aspects• Challenges & Uncertainties• Expected Outcome• Project Plan• Procurement Plan• Conclusion

Problem Statement Pre-Assembled Articulating Machines Are

Expensive On Average Between $1500-$3000 Need to provide a machine with a fraction of that

cost Current Machine Is Non-Articulating

Tennis Twist Machine projects balls to a single location

Goal – Take this machine and implement a way to randomize ball projection location

Background

Tennis Twist Machine Machine Designed for Beginning Players

Tennis Twist only can fire up to a maximum distance of 20 feet

Only projects a ball every 5 seconds Does not give a random location for projected tennis

balls

Major Technologies/Innovation Arduino Microcontroller

Programmed to control a 12V DC Motor. Tells Motor

Go Forwards and Backwards Slow Down or Speed Up Pause

Use Case Diagram

USER

Horizontally & Vertically Varying Trajectories

Original Tennis Twist:Consistent Straight

Trajectories

Architecture Diagram

VERTICAL DC MOTOR

HORIZONTAL DC MOTORMICROCONTROLLER BOARD

COMMON POWER SOURCE TENNIS TWIST BALL LAUNCHER(existing device)

ARTICULATING PLATFORM DEVICES

P12

P13

+

+

-

-

+ -

Challenges & Uncertainties Designing a way to ensure DC motors are strong

enough One motor will need to be able to lift the ball machine

to alter trajectory and lob height.

Creating a single common power source The motors, microcontroller, and ball machine will

need to use the same 12V battery. The machine operates on 6 D-Cell Batteries

Housing microcontroller and motors Must be weather proofed and not exposed to

accidental physical contact by anyone or anything.

Expected Outcomes A functional machine that randomizes ball

location. Forces player to actually run around on the court

Microcontroller is set up to where when the machine stops shooting balls, it will stop running as well. Turns motor off when machine runs out of balls

Project Plan

ID Task Name Start Finish DurationDec 2012 Jan 2013 Feb 2013 Mar 2013 Apr 2013

12/9 12/16 12/23 12/30 1/6 1/13 1/20 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/17 2/24 3/3 3/10 3/17 3/24 3/31 4/7 4/14 4/21 4/28

1 36d1/25/201312/7/2012Design Proposal

2 11d2/8/20131/25/2013Procurement

3 10d2/15/20132/4/2013Unit Housing

4 5d2/15/20132/11/2013Coding

5 12d3/4/20132/15/2013Power Source Development

6 15d3/22/20133/4/2013Unit Construction

7 17d4/15/20133/22/2013Testing

8 10d4/26/20134/15/2013User Guide

9 10d4/26/20134/15/2013Final Documentation

10 1d5/1/20135/1/2013Career Fair

Procurement Plan Goal: Under $300 Have:

Tennis Twist Machine Need:

Arduino Uno Microcontroller Arduino Software (Free)

Platform Materials Wheels, Wood or Metal depending on weight concerns

Two 12 Volt DC Motors and Materials Gears, Chains

Conclusion System will turn a inexpensive machine and

turn it into a machine with the capabilities of a higher end machine.

Use two DC Motors to control randomization of the ball location.

Utilize a microcontroller to control the horizontal movement of the machine. Rotate and Pause Machine

Questions