Electromechanical Pong

From: Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk_at_yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri Sep 24 05:57:34 2004

On Thu, 2004-09-23 at 23:54 +0100, Pete Turnbull wrote:
> On Sep 23 2004, 21:50, Jules Richardson wrote:
> > pong, that'd be different... "Babbage Pong", maybe... :-)
>
> OK, but you have to use proper graphited yarn instead of PTFE and
> O-rings. Or use compressed air - you can buy the gates off the shelf
> if you're rich enough.

:-P
All that brass might be slightly on the expensive side, too...

> > And given the light loading involved, why not use wooden gearing
> > instead of metal: "Organic Pong"...
>
> Ow! If you'd ever tried to build wooden gears that don't self-strip...

Well the loading's not great; much less than in a wooden-geared clock,
say. Not much acual gearing needed either; it's mainly just levers.

The complex bit is getting forward / reverse / off for the drive to the
ball X and Y axis (off needed at start of game and when the ball's
travelling in a straight line of course). A differential's probably the
best bet there on each axis - lock the gear carrier to input and output
shafts via a pair of clutches and you get forward, lock the gear carrier
to the chassis and you get reverse, disengage everything and you get the
'off' state (providing the friction on the output shaft is high enough
to overcome the friction in the diff)

The simulated ball just travels on wheeled trucks set on a guide in each
axis, so I wouldn't imagine friction would be that high at all.

Whether bevel gears could be made out of wood is another matter!

Oh, the insanity :-)

cheers,

Jules
Received on Fri Sep 24 2004 - 05:57:34 BST