Ball Run Control System
Project Description:
Control system for a ball run exhibit. Uses a Teensy 4.0 programmed using the Arduino IDE. When a user spins the hand wheel at the base of the elevator, the system runs the elevator transporting the balls up to the top. Once they reach the top, two photo gates must be triggered to allow the indexer mechanism (driven using a closed loop stepper motor) to release the balls down the track. Once the balls reach the end of the track, they are picked back up by the elevator to run once again.
Our Scope:
Design and build and program a control system to run an elevator mechanism (120 VAC worm gear motor) and ball release mechanism (closed loop stepper motor) based of on the inputs from a hand crank (NPN hall effect sensor) and two beam break sensors.
Pictured: The Enclosure
Dual channel solid state relay, closed loop stepper motor driver, Teensy 4.0, 24v 5v dual output power supply
Pictured: Code Snippet
Short section of the over 250 lines of code required to ensure smooth operation
Pictured: Ball Release
Mechanism
Spoked indexing mechanism using a closed loop stepper motor. Thus ensuring proper position tracking
Pictured: Worm Gear Motor
120 VAC worm gear motor, controlled using a solid state relay.
Pictured: Panoramic view
Panoramic view of the ball run