Tennis Ball Machine
Custom ball machine complete with pan, tilt, speed, spin, and feed rate control
looping video of it on the court
Background
Motivation
My family all loves to play tennis. In 2022, my father brought up the idea of making our own tennis ball machine that could shoot balls at us from across the court. Besides it being fun to build, it would be useful for solo practice.
Requirements & Constraints
We decided the machine would need computer-controlled pan (horizontal aim), tilt (vertical aim), and ball speed, spin, and feed rate. It also needed to be transportable by one person, fit in our car, run on battery power, and cost less than comparable machines on the market.
My Role
I started the project responsible for the mechanical side, with my dad handling the electrical. As the build progressed, I eventually took over and handled all aspects of the machine as a solo project.