Pet Ball Launcher Obstacle Avoidance via Rotating Launch Channel
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing automatic ball throwing machines for pets have a low safety factor as they do not effectively avoid obstacles, leading to potential accidents when people are in the path of the launched balls.
Innovation Solution
A pet ball launcher with an avoidance drive assembly, a ball throwing assembly, and a sensor that detects obstacles, allowing the ball serving shell to rotate and redirect the launch channel to avoid collisions, ensuring the ball is thrown safely around people.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the automatic ball throwing machine throws balls at high speed, then the ball throwing function is effective, but the safety risk increases when people are in the path
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor performs preliminary detection of obstacles before the ball is launched. The avoidance drive assembly pre-rotates the ball serving shell to redirect the launch path away from detected obstacles, preventing potential harm before the ball is thrown
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor continuously monitors the area in front of the launch channel and provides feedback to the control system. When an obstacle is detected, the system automatically adjusts the launch direction by rotating the ball serving shell, creating a closed-loop safety mechanism
2Device complexity
If the ball serving shell is made fixed, then the structure is simple, but the ball cannot avoid obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The ball serving shell is designed to be rotatable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation based on obstacle detection. The avoidance drive assembly enables the shell to rotate to different angles to avoid obstacles while maintaining structural simplicity through a single rotational degree of freedom
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a pet ball launcher, comprising an avoidance drive assembly, a ball throwing assembly, a sensor and a ball serving shell; the ball serving shell is provided with a ball storage space and a launch channel communicated with the ball storage space, and the sensor is installed at an outlet of the launch channel; an output end of the avoidance drive assembly is connected with the ball serving shell, and the ball throwing assembly is installed on the ball serving shell; and when the sensor detects that there is an obstacle in front of the launch channel, the avoidance drive assembly drives the ball serving shell to rotate by a preset angle, the ball throwing assembly throws out a to-be-thrown object from the launch channel, so that the object thrown out of the launch channel avoids the obstacle.