SparBot Prototype

Inspiration

I remember seeing videos of a mechanical spinning bar called sparbar, thinking it was a really innovative way to train dodging punches as a boxer. Boxing is the science of hitting and not getting hit, so I wanted one of these badly. However, when I tried it out myself, I realized a major flaw. You don't have to react to the bar at all, it's completely predictable. I wanted to create something unpredictable, something that you're forced to react to. This is what led me to the creation of SparBot.

What it does

Sparbot is a robot that swings a bar in unpredictable directions at unpredictable intervals. Its purpose is to helptrain your reaction time and ability to dodge punches aimed at your head.

How I built it

The materials to build SparBot include: an Aruino Uno REV3, 12V DC mini motor, jumper wires, copper wires, 12V 1A power supply, phone power bank, Q-tip, and an L289 DC Dual H-Bridge Motor Driver Module. I connected the Arduino Uno and motor driver module via male-female jumper wires. I cut off the wire of the power supply to expose the copper and screwed the wire into the driver module to power it. The motor driver module is then connected to the DC motor with extra copper wire and electrical connectors. I then used a wire to connect the Arduino to my PC and uploaded C++ code to the board which was relayed to the DC motor.

Challenges I ran into

I ran into several challenges with this project. Cutting wires proved to be more difficult than I initially thought. Additionally, the power supply did not work at first because I had the wires swapped the wrong way around. When I first hooked everything up I was also confused why the motor was not running immediately. I realized that it is because once it is hooked up to the Arduino you must upload code in order to tell the motor to start running.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm really proud that I was able to create a functioning robot that unpredictably spins a bar in random directions at random intervals through the combination of code and hardware electrical components.

What I learned

I gained valuable experience with C++ and working with electrical components. This project has given me a lot more confidence with creating independent projects.

What's next for SparBot

Right now this is only a mini prototype version of SparBot that swings a Q-tip unpredictably. The next step is to scale up with a stronger motor that swings a larger bar ( with soft material such as a pool noodle). The larger version will likely be somewhat slower than the small version as a believe the current speed is too fast to realistically dodge.

Built With

• 12v-dc-motor
• arduino-uno
• c++
• copper-wire
• l289-motor-driver-module
• power-bank