Robot Tennis Ball Launcher

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Technology is a wonderful thing. On one hand, technology allows us to do wildly amazing things like building space robots shaped like huge spiders. On the other end of the spectrum, technology allows us to make robotic tennis ball launchers to keep our pets and small children entertained. Blame Mike Engelwood for the links.
 
That is so cool, I'd buy one in a heartbeat for my dog!

Mystofolyse said:
Awesome! I wonder what this can do in regards to CATS.
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I wouldn't think it would work, most cats I've known would stay still long enough to be launched and the motor would probably scare them away.:D
 
Mystofolyse said:
Awesome! I wonder what this can do in regards to CATS.
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Er, as in launching cats or using it to throw toys for the cats? lol :p

j/k, I have a few cats. They would be scared over the noise for a while but would probably get used to it, but they don't do fetch lol.
 
Ockie said:
Hahaha, poor dog.
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Why poor dog? it is the one deciding to launch the ball. It could stop when ever it wants.



I think that something like this would be a great product for those that work long hours and have a dog left at home. Just turn this on and give it something to do while you are away. Although you would need a dog that is able to reload it like th one in the video.
 
Exavior said:
Why poor dog? it is the one deciding to launch the ball. It could stop when ever it wants.
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Poor dog because it's being kept by a machine. What makes it funny is that eventually the dog will become conditioned... this guy needs a machine that can spew the ball with diffrent metrics each time.
 
mcravenufo said:
Oh man. I so need one of these.
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When i saw this the first thing i thought was thats awesome, it cant be that hard to build.

If you are interested check out parallax.com for a very easy to work with microcontroler. It is basic based and had quite a bit of resources and support available to learning them as a large part of their business is geared towards middle and highschools.
 
Very cool!

But, I can see about a dozen things that could go horribly, horribly wrong with that design !

It surely could be "safety optimized" and sold. The guy could make a fortune.
 
They would get used to it. My cat used to be afraid of the Roomba's, but now he sleeps on the one in the living room. I think it's the heat from the battery charging.

Every now and then he hits the button and launches it on a mission.



ir0nw0lf said:
Er, as in launching cats or using it to throw toys for the cats? lol :p

j/k, I have a few cats. They would be scared over the noise for a while but would probably get used to it, but they don't do fetch lol.
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I can see the owner coming home one day and finding his dog pinned under the launcher.

TechLarry said:
That is freaky. Thanks for the nightmare :)
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I've seen videos of other quadra-ped robots and they are all very creepy. Why don't they put a damn head on them to make them more life like and less like a headless zombie dog?
 
This would be great for people with disabilities, or Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
My g/f has Fibro (which incluses CFS & depression as symptoms), her Dr. prescribed a dog/cat to help her deal with some of the symptoms. This would be awesome for those really bad days when she honestly can't do anything.:cool:
 
I'd say with another shield or two there really should't be much of a safty risk. I don't see it managing to through the ball hard enough to cause serious injury.

A sensor or two could even be used to prevent something/someone from getting caught when it comes back down from being pined.
 
they should make one based on the baseball launcher. Have a hole at the top and the wheel boxed in. smaller wheel for compact package and cause you dont want to come home to holes in ur wall. have it portable with turbo speed option and mount it on a robot with chain feeding mmmm

hmm i think remember a cartoon with a robot like that lol
 
All that effort in making this machine to avoid playing with the pet. HAHAHAHA!!! I need one of these.
 
the-one1 said:
I can see the owner coming home one day and finding his dog pinned under the launcher.



I've seen videos of other quadra-ped robots and they are all very creepy. Why don't they put a damn head on them to make them more life like and less like a headless zombie dog?
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I gotta tell you all that I actually didn't feel the creepy factor but more of a sympathy factor for the machine. Especially when it was kicked to get it to lose it's balance and when it started slipping on the ice and tried to get it's footing. It was awesome to watch the real-time algorithms kick in to keep it stable. Then I had to shake myself to remember that this is a machine, not a living thing. Still cool.
 
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