Carlson Final Project

Before we started even thinking about our final projects, I had already decided what I wanted to do. My Main 2 Ideas are stated in the picture to the left. I decided to build upon the first Idea because I discovered that someone had already been working on a air hockey table.

So, what I did was start sketching different ideas of the main parts of this machine. Specifically I drew out the ball return system, the sizing of the machine and the goal. This was really helpful because I was able to work out many issues I would have had to deal with in the future when wasting material. Also I had a clear idea of the size of this machine making with design process easier.

The next thing I did was open up Tinkercad. I decided that building the air tubes was probably going to be the hardest part, so I wanted to do it first. I designed and tested the air tubes you can see to the left and they turned out better than expected. The only Thing I thought I might have trouble with is printing the balls. I thought they might turn out deformed so I built my own supports for them.

The next thing I did was the Casing for the machine. I made sure it had all the necessary holes and I built around my air tube design. This took a lot of material but because of my sketches it worked first try.

 As shown here the cuts and prints turned out great. I decided that for testing purposes tape for the airtubes would be good, however it turned out to be a really good sealant so I left it there for the final result.

Also as stated before the body turned out really good too.However I have yet to check how they fit together. Now I am checking and glue-ing all of the fits. I decided upon wood glue for the best chemical connection possible. I didn't glue the top on because I knew that there had to be a lot of work done. Also with pieces this big there was quite a bit of warping in the pieces which was quite stressful when glue-ing. I ended up having to use clamps to hold everything in place for the best result.

The next thing I did was print adapters for the air-tube so that it could send the balls up and out of the box and onto the track. I realized it needed to be a bit longer to make it perfectly to the designated hole, and I also did the 90 degree angle piece. However I messed up some of the sizing on the holes so I was forced to violently sand the tubes in order for the 3d printed balls to fit.

Next I fitted the top on to see how Close I was. After the laser cutting of a few more parts like the goal and the ball channels to guide the ball to the hole, the machine was starting to look complete. The top was violently warped, so I had to spend 10 minutes holding the wood so that it was bent in order to counter act the warp. Also I fit the air tubes and glued it down to ensure there is no movement in their perfect positioning. I am currently unsure what I am going to do for an air supply as well as a netting for around the machine and the goal so the ball doesn't just fly away, but I am really exited as to what this game is going to become.