Planet Arduino

Ping pong is one of the most popular sports in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it is easy to find people to practice with. Lone players are typically forced to practice by using return boards (or one half of the table flipped up), but that is overly predictable. To provide a better training experience, BINGOBRICKS designed this ping pong robot that serves balls according to user preferences.

This is a bit like a tennis ball serving machine, but tailored to the particular quirks of ping pong. Through a control panel on the back of the robot, the user can set the serve parameters. Those include the direction of the serve and even the spin of the ball — anywhere from a full top spin to a full back spin. A quick launch tube swap lets the user switch between high ball releases or low ball releases. To keep the player on their toes, the machine can release balls in different directions throughout a session.

Most of the robot’s body and mechanical parts are 3D-printable. An Arduino Nano board controls the motors according to the parameters set by the switches and dials. Potentiometers allow adjustment for the intervals between serves, speed, and spin, while three toggle switches control the directions in which the robot will serve balls. A servo motor controls the angle of the launch tube, a pair of DC motors spin the launch wheels (their relative speed sets the ball spin), and another DC motor rotates the hopper’s feed arm.

The post Ping pong robot lets you dial-in the serves appeared first on Arduino Blog.

If you thought table tennis was hard enough, wait until you see what Mark Wheeler and a team of designers have come up with. Ping Pong FM puts a Guitar Hero-like spin on the classic sport.

However, unlike the actual game, Ping Pong FM is more collaborative than competitive. That’s because players must hit the ball back and forth to keep the music going. Select your paddle, choose your song, and serve. Rally too slowly, or miss the ball, and the music will wind down. Rally at the correct tempo and the party is on. As you can imagine, faster tunes like “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys or “Milkshake” by Kelis are more challenging.

Although it may resemble an ordinary table tennis setup, Ping Pong FM is much more high-tech. Contact microphones are placed inside each of the paddles to track gameplay, while the microphone audio is processed by an Arduino hidden in a retro radio case that listens for peaks above a threshold. When a hit is registered, the Arduino sends a Player ID via USB to a computer running the game app, which displays the song coming out of two speakers and adjusts its speed accordingly.

You can see Ping Pong FM in action below and read more about the project here.

Friction wheel mechanism, frame made of VEX Robotics Design System components.

Read more on MAKE

Creative Applications featured Timo Maas video showing a custom MIDI-controlled machine built by a creative team  including Daito Manabe:

‘Tantra’ is the new single from Timo Maas, taken from his latest artist album, ‘Lifer’. The video for the single, created by Daito Manabe, Motoi Ishibashi, Muryo Homma and Youichi Sakamoto (rhizomatiks) includes a machine that uses Arduino controlled ball dispensers, motorised rotating steel plates and LED lights to create a nexus between electronic music and a sound responsive mechanical object.