Hey Guys and Gals,
I stumbled across the Arduino when looking for ways to improve my arcade basketball hoop.
http://www.digizon.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29&products_id=462
The hoop itself is fine, but, since I have the older model, the hoop has a plastic lever/arm that gets depressed when a shot is made. The plastic arm sends a signal to the score unit, and 2 points are added to the score. This setup works fine in general, even with heavy use from kids and adults alike. However, the ball does get stuck in the net because of that lever, and shooting too quickly (or having a ball bounce on the rim while shooting another shot) can cause some shots to not get detected since the lever doesn't get a chance to reset. There has also been cases of when a ball bounces a bit too much, and awards extra points. While these are small gripes, I think I can do better, and i like building things
I do know they made a new version of this hoop with IR sensors, but all the reviews say how lousy they are at detecting made shots...so I figure I could make my own.
My plan is to use a few IR sensors (2 per hoop, for a total of 4 IR sensors) to detect the made shots. I would use some code wizardry to make sure only made shots get counted and when a made shot is detected, send a signal to the main controller just like the old lever would do. The good news is that the game uses rj11 wire to connect all the electronic pieces, so, getting the new sensors to interface with the main controller is easy, and its also convenient to reverse the modification.
So, to make this happen, I was planning on getting an Arduino MEGA 2560 R3, or a Arduino Due. Im not sure how much horsepower I need to make this new scoring detection system very fast, and very accurate, what do you guys think?
I was also looking at these sensors:
or
I'm not sure what one would be best for my purposes, but I know that i only want to see about 0->15cm, The hoop diameter is 1ft, but the ball itself is about 7" diameter, so I don't need the sensor to see far. I also need them to be able to detect things quickly, since people will be shooting at a fast rate, as well as not giving false positives.
If this project goes well, I may even try to replace or somehow interact with the main control unit to add high score saving, outputting the top player to an android device, different game types, and what ever else I can think of. But again, these are a maybe if I feel like it wont be to much of a headache to implement.
To give you a lil background about me, I am a software engineer by trade (i used to make games in C/C++, now I work on the fringe of the game industry, but I still love C/C++) so coding inst a problem. I also have experience designing small TTL circuits in college...but that was a long time ago I still have my copy of circuit maker on my home computer as well as my text books, so getting back into the hardware side of things shouldn't be too big of a problem.
With all that said, I'm looking for advice on the parts I plan on purchasing, any potential pitfalls, and and any other ideas and wisdom you guys can share.
Thanks 8)