Foam Golf Ball Launcher

We were given the task to create something that would fly and we decided to get creative with it. Therefore, we came up with the idea of making a fun game for anyone to play where you simulate hitting a golf ball, with the use of our self-made ball shooter, to try and make the ball in the hole on our board that represents a golf green. Our contraption is designed so that anyone can make it and will be able to also make their golf balls fly as they try and make it in the hole!

Wood

Foam Balls

Spray Paint

Wires

Motors

Wheels

4 double AA Batteries (and 2 holders)

PVC Pipe

Glue

Netting or Cup

To start off this project we sketched what we envisioned to make these golf balls fly and CADed it in the TinkerCAD program as seen above.

1) Grab your wood - you will need two 9.5 in x 5 in, three 9.5 in x .75 in, one 1 in x 1 in (cut in half diagonally to make two triangles), one 2 in x .75 in, and two 1 in x 1 in pieces of wood.

2) Take one 9.5 in x 5 piece of wood and use it as your base by laying it flat.

3) Hot glue a 9.5 in x .75 strip of wood to one end of the base.

4) Place the other 9.5 in x 5 piece of wood up against this strip of wood vertically and hot glue it to the base and strip of wood.

5) Now on top of the vertical 9.5 x 5 in measure 4 inches over from each side and hot glue the other two 9.5 x .75 to this piece of wood leaving a .75 inch gap between the two pieces and they should be placed so they are sticking out over the majority of the base.

6) Take your 2 in x .75 in a piece of wood and hot glue it so it is on the back of these two long strips of wood at the top of your structure which creates a place for the balls to sit without falling off.

7) Lastly, take the two triangular pieces of wood you have and place them in front of the vertical wall on each edge of the launcher and hot glue them which will help provide support for the structure, preventing it from falling over.

8) Make sure you save the two 1 x 1 in pieces of wood not used as those will be used later when attaching the motors to the structure.

optional: (you can also now take your finished structure for the launcher and spray paint it the desired color)

Now you have completed the basic structure for the ball launcher!

1) Connect your red (positive) wire from the switch to the same one from the battery pack. You can either tape the wires together with electrical tape or solder them together.

2) Take your black (negative) wires from both the battery pack and switch and hook them up to the motor. Once again, you can make sure they stay by soldering them to the motor or by using electrical tape.

3) then attach your wheel to the motor by either placing it on if it fits or by hot-gluing it to ensure it stays on.

4) Repeat this process so you now have the wiring for both sides of the ball launcher and you can now put the batteries in the two packs.

5) Now take the two 1 in x 1 in pieces of wood you saved while building and hot glue them to the side of the motor. Now you can hot glue this piece of wood with the motor attached to your ball launcher so that it does not fall off. Do this for both sides.

6) You can also now hot glue the switches and battery packs to the ball launcher structure as shown so that they are not moving around and will stay put for easy use.

Your ball launcher is now complete and will shoot the balls out when you turn the motors on to make the wheels spin!

1) Grab your wood for the board - 2 ft x 3 ft, two 1.5 ft x .75 ft, and one 2 ft x .75 ft piece of wood.

2) Start by spray painting your big board how you would like your green to look using the example above to help guide you.

3) You will need to cut out a hole so trace an object that is around 2-3 inches in diameter. Then proceed to use a handheld jigsaw or drill with a circle cutter attachment on it and cut out your hole.

4) You can now put up the back and sidewalls. Use a drill and put screws to connect the mainboard and board and the bottom of the walls from underneath so that everything is secure and sturdy.

5) You are going to cut your PVC pipe so there are 4 pieces that are each 2.5 inches long. You can proceed to hot glue these pieces on the four corners on the bottom of the board so that the structure can stand up in a secured fashion.

6) You can now put your netting or cup underneath the hole and either tape or hot glue it so that when the ball goes in the whole it is able to catch the ball and not allow it to roll away.

The project is now finished and you can launch these balls and try to make it in the whole as a fun game between family or friends!