Projectile Intercepting System—

Successfully Build A Ping Pong Launcher

A Pong Pong Interceptor
And a Interception Simulator

Information Technology High School

Physics Term Project

Group Name SG2± J

Stanley Switalski, Shane Arguello,

Group Members Grace Nam, George Valasquez
And Joesph

Date
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Problem Definition

1 Introduction

Ping Pong Ball launchers integrate many aspects of physics. You need
to be able to calculate the initial and final velocities, the highest point
of the projectile and where the projectile will land. On top of this, all
of these calculations need to comply with air resistance. Although this
whole project may seem like a daunting task, this type of interception
system is used everyday to protect our country and the military forces.
In the military, ships and aircrafts are loaded with anti-missile
systems. A camera grabs a visual on the object, and based on
that/those images, deploys another missile to intercept it. So,
although it has been done by a government agency with a huge
budget, we are going to try to replicate this system with our basic
knowledge and little budget.

2 Functional Requirements

We must be able to build a Ping Pong ball launcher and interceptor.

• The Launcher must be able to launch at least five Ping Pong balls
automatically, without reloading, with consistent speed reaching
the same altitude and distance each time.
• The Launcher must be adjustable. It must be able to adjust the
launching angle, the base angle and the initial velocity.
• The Interceptor must meet the same requirements as the
launcher but it must be able to track the Ping Pong ball and from
that automatically shoot a Ping Pong ball to intercept.

3 Performance Requirements

• Both the Ping Pong ball launcher and interceptor must launch at least
five Ping Pong balls an overall distance of 2 meters.
• Both the Ping Pong ball launcher and interceptor must be able to
reach angles ranging from 15° to 75°.
• We must be able to control the RPM of both the Ping Pong ball
launcher and interceptor.
• A system must be setup so that the propulsion of the Ping Pong balls
in both the Ping Pong ball launcher and interceptor is simultaneous.

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Background Study

1 State of Arts

The Ping Pong ball launcher and interceptor were actually designed as
we went along. The prototypes on the other hand were derived from
two other propulsion designs. The first prototype that involved a CO2
tank and PVC pipe came from the idea of a Paintball Gun. The
Paintball gun uses CO2 and a special type of butterfly switch in order to
launch a Ping Pong sized projectile at extremely high velocities. The
second prototype was actually based off of an Amusement Park ride.
A single motor placed underneath a pendulum had enough power to
propel people perpendicular to the ground. If we scaled it down so
that it would launch Ping Pong balls, we had thought that we would
have had enough power to propel the Ping Pong balls.
Ping Pong Ball launcher V 1.1 was actually created by mistake. We
had initially tried to build our prototype design out of legos but it failed
miserably. I had gotten bored and tried to make a car out of the
Programming Brick. To no surprise the “car” broke and placed the
motors on their side revealing enough space for a Ping Pong ball to fit
through. All we had to do now was to build a base.
Ping Pong Ball launcher V 1.2 was just an upgraded and heavy-duty
version of the v 1.1 launcher. We recognized that the legos would not
be powerful enough, nor would they be strong enough. So by using
Wood, two 6V motors and foam wheels, we produced a great Ping
Pong ball launcher.
Ping Pong Ball launcher V 2.0 was pretty much thought of on the spot.
we knew that we would need to control the angle of the base and the
angle of the platform but we did not know how to control it or what to
use. Luckily the owner of Big Apple Hobbies assisted us in getting the
materials I needed. We used two servos and a dual servo controller in
order to control both angles. As for building the structure, we thought
of that on the spot as well. Our initial plan was to build two bases, one
would support the servo and the other would support the launcher.
However, when it came to building this, we realized that we could cut
out the platform for the launcher and significantly increase the
strength of the launcher.

2 Research Resource

Although it may be hard to believe, The Ping Pong Ball launcher and
interceptor were all of our ideas. We knew that we needed to have an
adjustable platform so that we could adjust the launching angle and
we knew it needed to be structurally integral. Therefore we decided

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that the best structure would be to have two motors on the side that
would propel the ball outwards. Using light wood would help us make
sure that the launcher and interceptor were capable of moving without
difficulty, and by using small foam wheels we were able to achieve a
high RPM with enough friction to achieve our 2 meter requirement.
Courtesy of Mr. Lin, we had added a switch that would increase the
functionality and ascetics of the launcher.

Key Ideas/Methodologies

1 Key Ideas

One key idea was the idea of using two motors spinning in opposite
directions in order to propel a Ping Pong ball.
Another key idea was the idea of using two foam airplane wheels so
that there would be enough friction to propel the Ping Pong ball
without decreasing the speed.
Another key idea was the use of bendable metal to securely mount the
motors on the side of the platform.
Another key idea was the use of double-sided foam tape to space and
insulate the motors.
Another Key idea was the use of metal railings to ensure that the Ping
Pong balls stay loaded.
Another key idea was the use of a protractor to determine what angle
the Ping Pong balls were being shot at.
Another key idea was the use of servos and a dual servo controller to
“automatically” adjust the angle of both the launcher and the platform.

2 Methodologies

By using battery holsters, we could easily organize our wiring and

ensure absolute safety.
By using a carbon fiber rod in the V 2.0 launcher, we were able to cut
down on the weight of the overall interceptor.
By using four pieces of wood, we were able to stabilize the V 2.0
launcher’s base around a single point of rotation.
By using a sinker, we were able to counter act the weight of the
motors in the V 2.0 launcher.
By using a switch on the V 1.2 launcher, we were able to easily supply
or cut off power to the motors.
By using battery holsters, we were able to reduce our fire hazard and
improve the aesthetics of our launcher as well.

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Design/Implementation/Solutions

1 High-Level Block Diagram/System Specification

Angles are first adjusted.

In launcher v 1.2 it must
be manually configured.
In launcher v 2.0 two
Ping Pong Ball Propulsion System
servos control the angles

The Ball meets Friction captures

Ping Pong Ball two Foam wheels the Ping Pong Ball
Travels up Ramp
via Lego
Mindstorm Track
Two 6 Volt motors
power two wheels

Three or Five D
batteries each power
one motor

Out comes a Friction combined

consistent Ping with a High RPM
Pong Ball with a creates an initial V
constant initial V

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2 Detail Design

Our first design took the same concept as a paintball gun. CO2 should
provide plenty of thrust on the account that it a paintball gun is able to
bruise human flesh.

QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Our second design took the same

concept as an amusement park ride. The
single motor underneath the platform
should be fast enough to propel the ping-
pong ball.

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The Ping Pong Ball Launcher V 1.1 Used a Lego Mindstorms kit in order
to operate. We needed to use their programming language which
none of us knew. This only hindered the abilities of the robot. We
tried to get the distance between the wheels in the v 1.1, 1.2 and 2.0
launcers to be 1.5 inches (the diameter of a Ping Pong ball).

Ping Pong Ball Launcher 1.2 was based off of the Lego design but used
much stronger wood in place of plastic pieces.

Ping Pong Ball Launcher 2.0 was essentially an automatically controlled

v 1.2 launcher. It used two servos and a dual servo controller in order
for it to move without direct human interaction.

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3 Implementation

We didn’t really have a set budget for this project. As Stanley was in
charge of building these launchers, and because he understood that he
needed to do anything in his power to build a professional piece of
machinery, he did not mind spending the money needed to produce
the launchers.

Item Price
Lego Mindstorms System On Loan
Lightweight Pine Wood Free
Four 6Volt Motors $2.99 Each
Six Foam Wheels (Two Broke) $2.49 Each
Switch Courtesy of Mr. Lin
16 D Sized Battery Holsters $0.99 Each
Six rails $0.99 Each
Two Servos $14.99 Each
Dual Servo Controller $24.99 Each
6Volt 300 mA Power Adapter $12.99 Each
Carbon Fiber Rod $2.49 Each
Total Cost $119.13 Without Sales tax

If need be, we have videos located at the following URL:

http://geocities.com/jimisfender1973/science.html

Testing

1 Test Setting

For testing our launchers, we had recorded launcher V1.2 from the
side. Not only did we do this but we also recorded how fast and far
the ping-pong balls traveled at certain angles. For launcher V 2.0, we
only recorded how fast the Ping Pong balls traveled due to time
constraints.

2 Test Results

Launcher V1.2 had launched Ping Pong balls at an average velocity of

.0108857 m/s
Launcher V 2.0 had launched Ping Pong ball at an average velocity of
.00847 m/s
* Note: Launcher V 2.0 had two less batteries supplying each motor.

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Distance that Launcher v1.2 had shot at certain angles

15o 5 Feet or 1.524 Meters
30o 8 Feet or 2.4384 Meters
45o 11 Feet or 3.3528 Meters
60o 7.5 Feet or 2.286 Meters
* Note: These tests were done when each motor received 4.5 Volts each. We later
upgraded the amount of batteries to include 7.5 Volts each.

3 Interpretation of the Results

Overall we were quite please with our launchers. They had a very
good accuracy rate, as proved when we aimed at a single hanging Ping
Pong ball, traveled further than our expectations and were more fun
than we could stand. However, we felt as though our launchers were
lacking in their ability to shoot consistent ping-pong balls. On our 60 o
test, the Ping Pong balls all reached a different height. This might be
due to the fact that there was not enough time for the motors to spin
up to the same RPM as the previous ball shot at.

Conclusion

1 Lesson Learned

Overall, we learned many things about propulsion. The first would be

that there are a lot of variables in a propulsion system. You have the
angle of the base, the angle of the platform, the speed of the motors
in correlation with the amount of voltage they receive and the air
resistance just to name a few. Another thing we learned about was
that mass is vital to the overall distance of the object. Because we
were using an object so light and hollow, it was harder to propel
farther. But if we were to propel a more massive object, it might have
been easier to propel a large distance (in some aspects).
As for our design, there were plenty of ideas that failed. The first
would be that CO2 propulsion was not the best prototype in the world.
It would be hard to control the feeder and release of CO 2 and the
amount of CO2 lost is so significant that our results would never be
consistent. The second idea that failed was the idea to use one single
motor to propel a Ping Pong ball. We should have known that two
wheels were the minimum in order to propel a ball. The third idea that
failed was the use of Legos in our Ping Pong Ball launcher. They
simply were not strong enough to support the propulsion of a Ping
Pong Ball. Once we got all of these bad ideas out of the way,

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everything was pretty much smooth sailing afterwards.

2 Observations/Discoveries/New Problems

As far as our launchers go, there weren’t many observations. I mean

everything operated as though it came out of a textbook. The Ping
Pong Balls traveled straight, a 45o firing angle resulted in the longest
distance, 30o and 60o firing angles had resulted in the same distance
and the tests were pretty reassuring that our launchers fulfilled a lot of
the requirements.
As far as discoveries go, we really didn’t make any significant
discoveries. The one discovery we did make was that sports themed
Ping Pong balls are smaller than regulation Ping Pong Balls.
The fact that the sports Ping Pong balls were smaller actually turned
into a new problem for us. At the time of building the V 1.2 launcher,
we had used the sports Ping Pong balls to space out the motors. Now
when the regulation sized Ping Pong balls tried to fit through the
wheels, it was a tight fit.
Another problem that we discovered was that wood breaks very easily
in the cold. The reason the V 2.0 launcher is so fragile is because
whenever we went to secure the servo, which is the base, around
wood, the wood would always crack. In the end we just wrapped it up
with electrical tape and hoped for the best.
Another problem was the Ping Pong ball feeder. Unfortunately we
could not come up with an effective design that would simultaneously
feed Ping Pong balls into the wheels. We tried to remedy this situation
by using Lego Mindstorms tracks and motors to bring the Ping Pong
Balls closer to the motors; it didn’t work all too well in the V 2.0
launcher. Otherwise, there were no new problems with our original
plans.

3 Conclusions/Remarks

In the end, we were quite happy with our results. We had built three
prototypes (one not shown due to its miserable failure), three
launchers (one failed due to structural integrity) and we able to meet
most of the requirements. So far, there were only two requirements
that we failed to meet. The first was that our Ping Pong ball feeder was
automatic and the second was that the motor’s RPM was adjustable.
Although we did try to remedy this problem, as I stated, it didn’t work.
While we were building these launchers, we found it hard to believe
that no one manufactures these (sort of) hand held Ping Pong ball
launchers. This is how much fun we had with this project. Although it
did run on the expensive side once we started getting into automation,

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I wouldn’t mind spending money on one of these toys.

4 Future Outlook/Open Questions

In the future we hope to build two V 2.0 launchers except we hope

that the second one is much less fragile. We also hope to use a
program that would be able to control the servos. This way we could
set up some cameras and have the whole interception system
automated. The last and final challenge for us would be to create two
mobile units that would be able to have a war. By war I mean they
should be able to dodge Ping Pong Balls and try to shoot down the
other Launcher. However, the questions are can we control the servos,
can we build a system that would control the speed of the motors, can
we build a mobile platform, will we be able to use the interception logic
and apply it to a real setting, will we be able to use cameras to
automate the interception logic and will we be able to get this all done
without breaking our minds and banks? This is a question only time
will tell.

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