Week 14 - Practical 4

Welcome back to our blog!

For this practical, we were tasked to create a fully-functioning ball game made from cheap items such as cardboard and chopsticks using various tools. We were required to apply our knowledge made from Practical 3 about joineries on our game.

We wanted to create a pinball machine. First we created the framings for the entire game, and then created the bumpers and launchers for the game to work. Lastly, we created the obstacles for the game. We used multiple joineries that may not be as obvious on the design but still helps on the overall structure, such as slots and tabs, L-braces, scores and creases.

For the bumper, we used rubber bands to simulate it going back and forth when it is pushed. Although they were not as symmetrical as we hoped, it was still able to give the strong bumper feeling on an actual pinball machine, and we were happy with how it came out.

Similarly, for the launcher, two rubber bands, tied together into a knot, were placed on the center of the square base of the launcher handle. This made it so that it would effectively work in launching out the ball, while still being strong enough to not break due to tension.

After 2 straight hours of creating the piece, we had to start showcasing it to our classmates. Here's our showcase video:

However, our mechanism had seem to have broken during the showcase, so we had to describe what would usually happen during actual play. Luckily we were able to go back home and refine it to make the game much more functional and durable than before.

We were then tasked to create a short promotional video to give to our target audience, 10-11 year old kids. Here's our promo video:

Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading!