Whack a mole with solenoids

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello,
So i'm thinking of building a wack a mole.
Most of the diy project i find are made with pushbutton and light, however i'd like to build a more traditional one.

I think the original one is made with pneumatic. I belive there is no easy and cheap way to build a pneumatic wack a mole if you know some good pneumatic system that might suit my needs, feel free to share :stuck_out_tongue:

So i was thinking of using solenoids.
I was wondering how to compute the solenoids (and magnet) i need regarding the fact that
I want to push a 100g cylinder over 10 cm ?

Here is a little drawing that might help understanding

2

why not servos?

3

I reckon a solenoid action is too fast for this... the pneumatics give an 'organic' feel to the motion.
+1 for servos if you can't go to pneumatics.
Remember to provide some slip cluthch whatever you do!

4

Well when the player hit with the little hammer wouldn't that harm the servo ? This is even worse if he hits when the servo is powered ...

I'm not 100% sure what "slip cluthch" is, do you mean some linear guide?

5

That's exactly what the slip-clutch is for... (sorry my earlier typo)
A rubber isolated clutch that -slips- when the mole is hit - so the torque isn't passed back to the servo shaft mechanism.

cheers

6

There are long stroke solenoids (had to Google it).

Leo..

7

That's pretty cool.
I'll have to read up on how they develop traction and hold their position...

If you can control them at the right speed - they could well do the job.
You want to move the mole about 80-100mm in 100-200mS, on a single-ended shaft.

That works for me!
Keep us informed - interesting.
Thanks