Final Report - Claymore - Grand Valley State University

Executive Summary
The objective of this design project was to develop a device to read a signal,
locate a target, and fire a practice golf ball through the target autonomously in the least
amount of time possible. An ATMega32 microcontroller and L298P H-bridge driver
were used to control the device. Cost, weight, and size constraints were put under
consideration.
A stationary device with a rotating turret and launch mechanism was the optimal
design choice upon consideration of the design parameters. The launch mechanism was a
directed air nozzle contained within a 9 inch by 1.5 I.D. low-pressure PVC pipe. The
positioning of the launch mechanism was controlled by a high-torque stepper motor. The
stepper motor was fastened to an aluminum coupler, which was fastened to the launching
mechanism. The balls were fed to the launching mechanism using a gravity fed, helical
track wire hopper. The ATMega32 microcontroller was utilized to receive 5V inputs
from an external source. When a signal was received, the stepper motor aligned the
barrel with one of four targets and launched a practice golf to disable the target.
Testing was executed to determine how the device would perform in the final
competition. The test results revealed that air provided an adequate force to shoot the
balls at the targets. Furthermore, the stepper motor provided accurate positioning of the
barrel at an acceptable rate.
1