Wall Mounted Ping-Pong Ball Machines

Last week I hosted an impromptu webcast with Maker Camp to share some ideas around making wall mounted ball tracks with ping-pong balls and cardboard and then adding digital elements using a Micro:bit board. It was a lot of cover in just one hour, but I wanted to share the video and some inspirations for taking things further.

The workshop also gave me the chance to experiment a bit with different ways of setting up a webcast. For this session I tried out OBS for the first time which made switching scenes and sharing videos of my hands working on the project really easy. I also built a scrappy version of a camera mount for an old iphone to capture an overhead view.

It was fun (if a bit over-complicated) to go over so many different aspects of the project but I had a lot of fun creating a experimental machine with a servo motor trigger and a tinfoil switch at the bottom that played a little celebratory tune.

There are so many different ways to complexify this project using the Micro:bit and electronic components. You could create a servo elevator to bring the ball back to the top, use the radio function to time the course and hack the light sensor in the micro:bit to be triggered by the ball. The machine could also be a way to accomplish a task like feeding your fish or protecting your room with an alarm system. The possibilities really are endless.

I’m excited about sharing more ways to combine recycled materials like cardboard and yogurt containers with accessible digital elements like the Micro:bit! We’ll keep sharing new project ideas here and around the web as we continue our quarantinkering fall.