04.2.2 Physical Prototype
The Robo-Pitcher is a crank slider mechanism that uses a servo motor to adjust the angle of the slider which subsequently adjusts the angle of attack of the pitch. This setting allows us to more directly change the height and loft of the pitch. Secondarily, we can adjust the power of the servo motor associated with the crank in order to adjust the force with which we launch the whiffle ball. These two settings allow us a great deal of control in the type of pitch we can produce. From this point, we aim to integrate the system and launch our first pitches. The bulk of the remaining work will be dedicated to developing pitching profiles through programming. The goal is to make this system easily adjustable for the user using a potentiometer dial. The user should not have to worry about exact heights and speeds but should be able to adjust the pitch with the dial until it is consistently pitching balls appropriately for the user.
