Posted on

Vivian’s Status Report 4/4

This week I got the paddle system working for our demo, which was my main task. I set up the system, tested the paddle, and confirmed that the mechanism could perform the swing motion as expected. I also ordered more breakbeam sensors and a GPIO expander so we can continue building the scoring system. In addition, I am planning on refining the under-game system for the ball routing underneath the board.

For verification, I have already run basic functional tests to confirm that the paddle responds to commands and works consistently enough for demonstration. Next, I plan to run more structured tests on paddle repeatability, under stress loads and scoring sensor detection accuracy. I will analyze these results by measuring whether the paddle actuates consistently and whether the breakbeams correctly detect scoring events with minimal false triggers. This will help verify that my subsystem meets our design requirements for responsiveness and reliable score detection.

For validation, we will test the full gameplay flow as a team: swing input, paddle swing, ball scoring, sensor detection, and scoreboard update. This will help us determine whether the system works as intended for the overall game use case.

My progress is on schedule since I was able to get the paddle working for the demo. Next week, I hope to continue refining the under-game system, integrate more breakbeams, do more complete testing of the paddle/ scoring system, and also get the basic audio up and working.

Posted on

Aiden’s Status Report for 4/4

What did I accomplish?

I assembled a linear actuator (1 axis of the gantry) and designed and CAD modelled pockets which have a slot to embed our breakbeams in them. 

 

Am I on schedule or behind?

I feel on schedule with our latest Gantt chart. While I didn’t get to programming the linear actuator (gantry), I was pleased with the progress we made on the under-table routing and pocket design.

 

What do I hope to complete in the next week?

I hope to program the gantry to move in a straight line and mount a magnet to it. I also hope to print and test the pockets and finalize the design.

On the verification of my systems
I have contributed to a lot of the subsystems, and the one that I am owning, the pitch, is still awaiting its core component — the gantry. I just finished assembling the gantry and have yet to verify it.

Another core component of the pitch is the “coupling mechanism”, which includes everything in the scope of the ball and getting it to move with the gantry under the table. At first, our design included a magnet that we would linearly retract. Our first ball design was a steel puck with a plastic cover on it, as we feared the weight of a full ball would be too much for the flipper. Our main test was a drag test with the ball, where we had the ball above a piece of the surface material and dragged it with a magnet below. From our testing, we concluded that the puck experienced too much friction, and we changed to a ball once we realized that the flipper was strong enough to hit it effectively. We also tested a few different strengths of magnet and settled on one that held the ball strongly enough so that it stayed coupled while undergoing massive acceleration changes (by dragging the magnet in aggressive paths and speeds), yet not too strong so that it was difficult to decouple the ball with the flick of our fingers (replicating a flipper striking it). The balls rolled and thus didn’t suffer from friction like the pucks.

Much of my contributions have been physical thus far, namely the game board. This required little formal testing. We needed to ensure the game dimensions passed the eye test and that the board felt strong enough.

Posted on

Aiden’s Status Report for 3/28

What did I accomplish?

I fabricated the game board out of plywood and laser-cut the surface out of hardboard. I CAD modelled and 3D printed a gate-like housing for the breakbeams and a return pocket for the ball to be picked up from. I tested the friction and magnetic strength of two models of game balls, and ordered a few other sizes of balls and a pack of stronger magnets according to the testing results. I spoke with several people from TechSpark to review my designs.

 

Am I on schedule or behind?

I am currently on schedule. So long as tomorrow goes to plan, the game board fabrication should be complete.

 

What do I hope to complete in the next week?

I hope to build one axis of the gantry and program it to move in a straight path.

Early in the following week, I hope to have the magnet mounted to the gantry so that it can automatically drag the puck in a straight line.

Posted on

Bing’s Status Report for 3/28

What did I accomplish this week?

This week, I demonstrated the swing detection mechanism that I have been working on to my teammates. I also managed to use the ESP-NOW protocol to transmit the results of the swing detection wirelessly to another microcontroller. With that, I worked with Vivian to wirelessly control the flipper servo using the IMU.

Am I on schedule or behind?

I am currently on schedule.

What do I hope to complete in the upcoming week?

I hope to finish preparations for the interim demo so we can give a good presentation on Monday and Wednesday. I will also now be working on fine tuning the swing detection.

Posted on

Team Status Report for 3/28

This week, we worked to integrate our subsystems ahead of the interim demo presentation on Monday and Wednesday. Aiden finished up the physical build of the gameboard, including 3D-printed holders for break-beam sensors, which Vivian tested. Bing and Vivian successfully managed to control the servo by sending data wirelessly from the bat. As we transitioning to the integration phase of our project, we have also started collaborating on our team GitHub repository.

We are meeting up this weekend in preparation for the upcoming demo, in which we will demonstrate the gameboard and hitting subsystems, talk about our experiences with the development process so far, and lay out our plans for the upcoming month.

Posted on

Vivian’s Status Report 3/28

This week, I focused on integrating my two subsystems together. I was able to get the servo working in line with Bing’s ESP, so he is able to send a signal to actuate the servo. In addition to this, Aiden 3D printed holders for the breakbeams, and I was able to test those and have the microcontroller detect when it was broken. However, the breakbeams are less sensitive than I would like, and although they work, it is a little buggy and I would like to look into alternatives. These two subsystems are integrated within a larger block of code, where I was able to simulate gameplay with a serial input ‘p’ from my keyboard for pitch (in placeholder of the gantry), receive a signal from Bing’s ESP though Bluetooth, and detect scoring with two different breakbeams.

Next week, I would like to have a better solution to the breakbeams and further test its sensitivity. I would also like to start on the scoreboard and finalize the design of it. I also want to stress test my systems and finalize the gameplay flow (hits, runs, etc) and look into creating a custom breadboard for hooking up the GPIO pins.

I am on track for this week as I have my system integrated, tested and published to Git.

Posted on

Team Status Report for 3/21

This week, we made significant strides in the physical fabrication and flipper-gameboard integration. Aiden revised the CAD models of the game board surface and frame, and consulted TechSpark’s woodshop lead for advice. Vivian tested the new servo and IR break beam sensors and successfully implemented a prototype game state machine with these two components. Bing continued development on the bat swing detection system.

We ran multiple hands-on tests this week that helped shape upcoming design decisions. We tested flipper-ball (hits), ball-magnet, and ball-surface (friction) interactions, and developed a full-scale surface prototype to evaluate the dimensioning of the board and pockets. We confirmed that the flipper was strong enough to hit the ball, but the ball doesn’t travel as far as we wish. We are going to try with a spherical game ball instead of the current design, which is a puck. We also concluded that the magnet was strong enough.

Looking ahead, we are focusing on pulling together a cohesive interim demo for next week, and we will likely focus on physical fabrication and integration of at least a prototype of all subsystems minus the pitch (gantry).

Posted on

Aiden’s Status Report for 3/21

What did I accomplish?

I did a lot of stuff pertaining to the physical fabrication of our game board. I revised our CAD model for both the surface and the frame of our board. The surface design mimicked an old baseball-themed arcade game that we found, and the frame design was informed by a conversation I had with Justin Harvilla, who works at TechSpark’s woodshop. I also iterated on the flipper design and 3D-printed a few other small components to ensure a clean interaction between the flipper and the game ball.

I cut out both a small piece of hardboard and a full-sized surface replica out of cardboard. The hardboard cutout served to test how much friction the game ball experienced, and the full-size cutout served as a visual aid for pocket placement and board sizing.

Am I on schedule or behind?

I am currently on schedule with revisions to reflect the delayed arrival of the gantry, yet I am concerned with the amount of work I’ll have to do next week to hit a reasonable interim demo.

What do I hope to complete in the next week?

I hope to:

1. Order and acquire my game board materials — hardboard, acrylic, and plywood.

If those come in by Wednesday:

2a. Test the flipper hitting reach with the hardboard. This will inform the final board size.

3a. Resize the surface and cut it. This may not be the final surface, but the length and width should be final so that I can:

4a. Make the frame.  This should be a one-and-done deal. No revisions.

If those don’t come in by Wednesday:

2b. Build the Gantry

3b. Program it to move in a straight path.

4b.  (Stretch) Mount the magnet to the gantry so it can automatically drag the puck in a straight line.

Posted on

Vivian’s Status Report 3/21

This week, I tested the IR beam sensors and the new servo. I was able to get a visual of the servo’s strength with the 3d printed magnet, and it worked well and was able to it it with the expected torque and speed calcualted in my design. In addition to this, I integrated the systems together and was able to get a mini state machine working with one sensor and the servo. With this, I am able to send a serial input into the GPIO pin of the microcontroller to swing the bat, have a detection for the IR beam, and switch states to either hit detected or miss.

I am on schedule for this week, and want to scale to at least two sensors for the demo next week. Additionally, I want to get a prototype for the recieving system up with physical cups and also coordinate with Bing on the Bluetooth aspect. I would also like to do more stress testing on the sensors with different lighting conditions.

Posted on

Bing’s Status Report for 3/21

What did I accomplish this week?

This week, I continued work on building a prototype for the bat swing detection with the ESP32 and IMU.  I couldn’t figure out the driver issue I kept encountering with the ESP32, so I had to switch to a completely new board. I also engaged in an ethics discussion during lecture with my team.

Am I on schedule or behind?

I am slightly behind, but I am catching up on lost progress.

What do I hope to complete in the upcoming week?

I hope to finish my prototype by Monday and demo it to the team. Given that our interim demo is next week, I hope to work with my teammates to get a good demo in.