Physical Media Controller (Foosball table)

The purpose of our project is to create a physical device that controls a medium. The directions stated that it should control the medium in real-time, so that the user can change her actions and see changes as they affect the medium. My partner and I came up with two ideas. An electronic Foosball table or a flower that spins when the user blows. The Foosball table seemed to be the more exciting of the two so we chose that. Our project is a twist of the classic Foosball table. The plastic men are not controlled by spinning the users handle. Our game requires the user to physically kick in order for the plastic men to move.

Week1

We were able to come up with a prototype. The most difficult part was wiring and writing the code . When the user kicks the ball, he or she will finish the circuit that tells the servo sensors to move the handle. In other words we created a switch using the users foot

(Our makeshift Foosball table is a shoebox.

The servo sensors are attached to the handles.
The two pieces of cardboard attached
to the handle represent where the plastic men will be.)

(The three pieces of foil make up one switch. The 2 pieces of aluminum
that are attached to wire will be sewn onto a ball.
The last piece of foil will go on the users foot.
When the user kicks the three pieces of foil meet and the circuit is complete.)