Tabletop Basketball
A competitive basketball-inspired game made with 3D printing and finite element analysis
This tabletop basketball game is competitive, fun, and a great way to take a break between hours of work or study. Made from Flexible 80A, PLA, and ABS, it was created using additive manufacturing methods: SLA and FDM 3D printing.
Team:
Victor Son, Wooseok Kim
Timeline:
3 Weeks
Tools/Processes:
Stereolithography (SLA) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D Printing, Static Simulation, CAD (Fusion 360)
Design, Inspiration, and Material Choice
We were inspired by mini basketball games we saw online and the concept of the diving board. The ball could be launched from a mini "diving board" into a basketball hoop. We wanted to create a two-sided board so that the game would be competitive.
For the basketballs and the backboard & hoops, we wanted a material that would effectively absorb force, while not being too jelly-like in terms of physical properties (having a steady form). We decided that Flexible 80A would be more appropriate for our project than to Elastic 50A, since it has a lower elongation at break percentage while having higher tensile strength and tear strength.
For the catapults, we wanted a material that was flexible and had springback, while not deforming under stress. We decided that ABS would be more suitable for a more durable and effective launch mechanism, considering how they had greater values for young’s modulus, flexural modulus, and toughness (notched Izod - type of impact test) when compared Tough 2000.We chose PLA for the base so that we could quickly iterate different distances from the catapult to the hoop if needed.
CAD Model
We created a full CAD assembly, with grooves to model the design of a basketball court and backboard. We dimensioned a hole to fit a 93365a130, 6-32 heat set insert from McMaster-Carr and a 6-32 Phillips Screw. The Flexible 80A backboard and PLA pole would be press fit. No tolerance testing would be required because flexible 80A is flexible.
Prototypes
We prototyped ABS catapults with varying thicknesses to approximate a good thickness for an effective catapult that can launch the ball the correct distance and does not break down easily after a lot of use. We printed angled blocks of PLA to determine the best angle to place the catapult at, finding that the 30 degree block produced the most desirable results.
Static Simulation
We used static simulation to validate the design of our launching mechanism and figure out the stress and displacement resulting from different catapult thicknesses. We performed simulations on the 1.0 mm and 1.2 mm thicknesses by changing the parameter we created.
Slicer Screenshots
Final Product
