The students at the school have caught on that robotic (electronics+CS) can be fun. Now I would like to build support in the community.
For some time I have been thinking about building a free throw shooting robot to entertain during halftime at our local high school basketball games.
Most everything will need to be scratch built or scrounged/re-purposed. There is no budget to speak of other then my pocketbook at this point. We may get some small donations but have no plans to go begging. Our community is small and the merchants are too frequently asked to donate to school programs.
I see the project in two parts. First the mobile platform. Then the gizmo's to locate the robot and shoot the ball.
The school has fabrication tools to build the framework. welders, plasma torch, and a lathe. We even have a small CNC mill. We can design the frame and hand it off to the students/instructors to have it fabricated. Getting other departments involved will help make it a school wide project rather then one from my class.
If the platform is stable we can use common lead acid batteries for power. They are not my first choice but they are free. Need to figure out where to scrounge the drive motors. An H-Bridge to build.
To shoot the ball I am thinking of using an automotive air-shock connected to a small air filled tank.
This is a long term, possibly multi year project. I am quite open on most everything but the budget, and that the robot needs to shoot the ball. It would be nice if it could make the shot.
For some time I have been thinking about building a free throw shooting robot to entertain during halftime at our local high school basketball games.
Most everything will need to be scratch built or scrounged/re-purposed. There is no budget to speak of other then my pocketbook at this point. We may get some small donations but have no plans to go begging. Our community is small and the merchants are too frequently asked to donate to school programs.
I see the project in two parts. First the mobile platform. Then the gizmo's to locate the robot and shoot the ball.
The school has fabrication tools to build the framework. welders, plasma torch, and a lathe. We even have a small CNC mill. We can design the frame and hand it off to the students/instructors to have it fabricated. Getting other departments involved will help make it a school wide project rather then one from my class.
If the platform is stable we can use common lead acid batteries for power. They are not my first choice but they are free. Need to figure out where to scrounge the drive motors. An H-Bridge to build.
To shoot the ball I am thinking of using an automotive air-shock connected to a small air filled tank.
This is a long term, possibly multi year project. I am quite open on most everything but the budget, and that the robot needs to shoot the ball. It would be nice if it could make the shot.