Newton's Cradle- Automated

In my last project at the Hackathon, I was trying to automate a Newton's Cradle. The second time around at the Hackathon, I was able to create a working automated Newton's Cradle.

Materials: The purpose behind this project was that I wanted to follow up on the last -Wood Hackathon by achieving the goal of making a Newton's Cradle that is --Nail Gun automated. I also wanted to learn how to use arduino.

-Sand Paper

-Band Saw

-Metal Balls

-Thread

-Hot Glue

-Paperclip

-Popsicle Stick

-Arduino

-USB

-Laptop

-Servo

I started by creating the structure of the Newton's Cradle. I cut out about 6 pieces of wood, all measured out to be 10.5cm. Then two larger pieces to put on top to put the structure together.

After cutting the pieces of wood with a band saw, I fastened them together with a nail gun.

After the pieces were fastened together, I drilled holes in the top two pieces of wood about a centimeter apart and put thread through the holes.

Next, I cut pieces of paperclip and bent them and hot glued them on the metal balls so I could holster the balls on to the thread. I then put the string on through the piece of paperclip and hung the metal balls on the thread so they were lined up equally.

I connected a USB to the laptop, then to the arduino. Next I connected the servo to the arduino with wires. Then, I gave arduino commands which can be seen the picture above. The goal was to get it to go for 1 second then have it rewind and wait for about 10 seconds.

I glued a popsicle stick to the servo so it would lift the ball and release it. I also hot glued the servo to the structure so it could be positioned to move to ball.

I think improvements I could make are making a more permanent arm that can move the balls. I also think I could have found a better way to holster the metal balls the structure. Overall, I think that the project went pretty well.