Target Practice: Works Like Model

This model was about a 1/3 scale of the target gallery I envision for this room. My teammate, Nick, made the sling that will be used to shoot the balls at the targets and more information can be found about that on his website. This room was created to get a feel for the kinds of things that could be included in this target range, get a feel for the sizing, and see if we can ensure that the room is safe and fun for the users!

Safety

Not shown in this model is the left wall, as well as the net covering the top of this gallery for presentation purposes. However, there would be a left wall, as walls as sides surrounding the sling. A net above the whole gallery will prevent the user from a) bouncing out of the room and into the Open World or another room nearby and b) throwing the ball directly into the gallery. They will only have room to reach under the net with their ball and pull the sling back to aim. TAlso, the sling is desinged so that it can only rotate a fixed amount. The final sling will also include a rope tied to the center of the elastic that will limit the user from pulling band beyond it's yield point. We will only operate in the elastic regime to eliminate inelastic deformation, so the chance of this band breaking will be very small.

The Targets

The targets in this game will be the tentacles of Poseidon's Kraken. I picuture a few different kinds of targets. Some of the targets will be moving side to side, which can easily be achieved with linkages and a small motor as is shown on the back wall. I used SolidWorks to model the kinematics and would be excited to do a more intense system for the final. I stuck with a cheap 180 degree servo for the sketch model to see how it would look, and think it would be awesome if these tentacles were actually The second kinds of targets could be popping up and down with linear actuators for users looking to test their reflexes even more.

I did not want to operate the sling in my office so I stuck with a light flick for now. Or maybe it was because I was not goot at the sling- I will let you decided what a respectful co-worker like me decided not to use the sling for this demo. Hint: Watch the last video- I was not aiming for the slot.

The final kinds of targets will be ones that start standing up, and fall over once they are hit. These will be the easiest kinds of targets to build the users confidence, but will not be scored as highly as the moving targets. These targets can be hinged at the ground as the targets in this sketch model are, and use a small motor to reset after each round. Putting all of these targets together in the room will keep the user engaged and there will always be new targets to hit!

I imagine that these targets can use IR sensors to sense getting hit, and this will be connected with the score board to track their performance in real time! Once again, smaller, moving targets will give the users a higher score compared to the staitionary, larger targets at the front of the room. This could be indicated with different colors, as I think putting numbers on the targets would make this feel too much like an arcade game.

The Floor and Ball Return System

The floor is every so slightly angled so that the balls roll into the back right corner of the room. Thanks gravity! Also assisted my gravity is the ball return system. There are a series of ramps around the side of the room that will bring the ball back to a turnstile. I imagine this being controlled with a button to release a ball (if the player's teammates have beeing working hard hitting the green buttons around the room to provide ammo credit). For the purpose of the video below, I removed the turnstile inside.

Here is a picture of the turnstile, which could release a ball by rotating the shaft. There were 4 blades and there was a little iteration needed to prevent jamming.

I hope you enjoyed the model! Be sure to check out my partner's work on the sling!