An update on the MMZ Arduino Marble Roller project. We got the mechanics in place and a reliable system for transferring the marble to the top of the ramp via servo motor.
Because it is the job of the servo motor to simply move the platform up and down as opposed to accomplishing significant amounts of work, we counter balanced the ramp with a spring to assist the servo in lifting it.
Eli does a great job explaining it in this video:
Today we devised a way to (hopefully) raise the marbles from the bottom of the track to the top using a servo motor. It is rather obvious at this point that we did not plan our initial track high enough and the end of it is too low. Oh well, version 1 is usually that way, right?
Here is an update to the marble roller project. We are using foam board and hot glue for construction. This is a surprisingly strong construction method for prototyping and projects like this.
In the foreground is a new stepper motor. Not sure if we will be using it or not for this project yet.
The kids and I are building a Arduino powered marble roller. It is a “demo” project for us to learn how to use servos, steppers, input, output, lights, transistors, h-bridges, and so on and so forth.
Hot-glue and foam-board are a great prototyping material!
The Gahooa Perspective 