Ball Roulette Game

Hello, I am an 11th grade student from Greencastle-Antrim High School in Greencastle PA. I am currently taking an Engineering and Design class in my high school, and I thought that this contest would be a good way to work on my 3d modeling and my design skills. I made this game because I have always enjoyed games, and I have found luck to be a very interesting factor while playing. The basis of this game is that each player puts the same number of balls into this randomizing machine, then all the balls will randomly go into one of four compartments. Each of the compartments are worth a different amount of points. All the players add up the points they've gained, and whoever has the most points win. So, there is absolutely no skill involved in this game, it is all up to chance.

Fusion 360

Slicing software

3D printer

Super glue

Sharpie

Balls to play with

I started by making a sketch of the bottom of the base and extruding it, making sure that the slots where the balls would go were extruded to a lower height. Then I made rectangular blocks on each side and cut them to get the triangle shape. This shape allows the balls to pivot to either of the slots randomly. The I added the same shape in the middle, but I made it taller and turned it so that the balls would go into either of the other pivots. I also included walls so that the balls would not fall out. The base is what randomly puts the balls into one of the four slots.

These pieces are optional, I just added them in case you wanted the results to remain hidden until the end. Or these can be used if the balls you are using tend to bounce out of the slots, they will help keep them in place. For these I just cut slots into the base so that you can slide these pieces in. I used a 0.381mm tolerance. Then I just sketched and extruded one of the pieces, and mirrored it to the other 3 spots.

These walls just keep the balls from rolling off of the pivots, and make sure that they actually go into the slots. I just made a sketch around the pivots, and then I just extruded them up. I also added filets where the walls meet the base, so that they would be sturdier and wouldn't just break off.

This is the piece that allows for the balls to be dropped down onto the pivots. For this I sketch a basic circular tube that overlapped a bit into the walls. Then I just cut out the space into the walls where the tube was. I then added the same sliding mechanism that I used for the slot covers in step 2. I also kept the same tolerance of 0.381mm.

This piece can be a little trickier to make. I started with a sketch of what I wanted the top to be, that would be the two rectangles. Then I made a loft from the outer rectangle to the outer circle of the tube. Then I made another loft from the inner rectangle to the inner circle, and I cut this piece from the previous loft. I kept the funnel as a sperate piece from the drop-down tube because it would be easier to print. But you can keep these pieces together as one component, and just print it with supports.

This is the piece that the balls would be loaded into, and that would spin to make the results even more random. For this piece I just used the sphere tool in fusion to make the sphere. Then I shelled it. I also split the piece into two halves later on, but you can just do this step after making the sphere. The two halves make it easier to print and to put together with the axle. To split it I just sketched a line across the diameter of the circle, and then I used the split body feature in fusion.

This piece is pretty simple to make. It is used to allow the sphere to spin and connects it to the handle. To make this I just sketched two circles that were in the center of the side of the sphere. I kept the same 0.381mm tolerance for the circles. Then I used the bigger circle to cut through the sphere, and I used the smaller circle to extrude and make the axle. I also a small circle in center of the axle that I used to cut an indent that would fit the handle in step 9.

These pieces hold the axle in place so that it can spin smoothly. They also hold the entire sphere in place. This was another basic sketch and extrude, but I added piece that would fit into the base so that they would remain upright and strong. I also used a bigger tolerance between the axle in the holder so that the axle could spin with less friction which would allow it to spin faster. After I made one of the holders, I just mirrored it to the other side to make the other one.

This is the piece that the player uses to spin the mechanism. For the arm of the handle, I drew a circle that would fit into the indent that I made in the axle in step 7, and I drew a line of what angle and length I wanted the piece to be. Then I used the sweep feature in fusion to make the circle follow the path of the line. For the other handle piece, I just made another cylinder and added the same indent that I put in the axle. For the handle I used a slightly smaller tolerance so that the pieces would fit together a little tighter.

This piece allows all the balls to remain in the sphere while they are spinning without falling out. For this piece I made a circular disc and added four prongs that would allow it to connect to the sphere. Then I cut a hole into the sphere where you could add the balls, and I also cut out the places where the prongs would go. For this piece I would recommend using a bigger tolerance so that the cap can be put on and removed easily without getting stuck. I would also filet the edges where the prongs meet the disc so that they don't break off as easily.

This piece allows the balls to slide into the funnel. For this piece I made the shape for the slide, which was basically half of the top of the funnel and shaped kind of like a c. Then I made the line I wanted it to follow, and then I used the sweep feature to make the shape follow the path.

This step is basically a last-minute check to make sure all the parts fit together and line up before printing them.

In this step you will need to 3D print all the pieces. First you need to put them in a slicer, I personally used Cura, but any software will work. Then you send them to your printer and wait for them to finish. After all the pieces are printed, you will need to glue a couple of the pieces together. First glue the two axle holders to the base. Then glue the drop-down tube to the funnel and make sure they are facing the right direction. Then glue the slide to the funnel. After that you can glue the handle to the axle if you want to make sure the pieces stay together. Then you just need to glue the two halves together and to the axle. After all these are done drying you can finish the assembly by putting the axle into the two axle holders and putting the drop-drown tube in its designated spot. Then your game should be fully assembled. I also drew in sharpie the amount of points each slot was worth, but you can make them worth whatever number of points you want, or you can just number them 1-4 so that you can change the point amounts. You will also need to acquire some sort of balls to play with and make sure that they are not too big or too small. I just used small aluminum foil balls that I made and marked some with sharpie to differentiate them. For my specific model the balls had to be smaller than a quarter inch in diameter.

Try playing the game with some of your friends and see who has better luck!