Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

This is a special forum devoted to educators using Adafruit and Arduino products for teaching.

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
autograffix
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2023 8:26 am

Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by autograffix »

Hello,
I am an educator who has spent a considerable amout of time developing a system that encourages elementary school students to stick with basketball (best sport ever!) as their sport of choice during their years in school. Basically it's a process that involves average students/players getting better in such a way as to be competitive with more priviledged players on the court in order to encourage them to stick with the sport.
At this point, I am in need of help creating a simple pressure sensitive device that reacts to (with light or sound) hitting a small target area on a backboard with a basketball. I'm fairly mechanical/tech savvy except when it comes to electrical circuits, and I see what might be done with Velostat, but I'm unsure how to make that happen.
Any help would certainly be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ken

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88037
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

At this point, I am in need of help creating a simple pressure sensitive device that reacts to (with light or sound) hitting a small target area on a backboard with a basketball.
How small? Velostat allows you to make custom pressure sensors of any size. We also have Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) of various sizes: https://www.adafruit.com/?q=fsr&sort=BestMatch

User avatar
autograffix
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2023 8:26 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by autograffix »

Thanks for the reply!
I've considered the Velostat, and have seen some applications online. I can't quite find information on how to set up a circuit that would respond to a pressure scenario with a light or sound. Can you point me in a direction?
Thanks again,
Ken

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88037
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

This tutorial shows how to construct a velostat sensor and use it with a microcontroller to trigger lights:

https://learn.adafruit.com/firewalker-l ... s/overview

User avatar
autograffix
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2023 8:26 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by autograffix »

Thanks for the reply!
I've considered the Velostat, and have seen some applications online. I can't quite find information on how to set up a circuit that would respond to a pressure scenario with a light or sound. Can you point me in a direction?
Thanks again,
Ken

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88037
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Please see the tutorial linked above.

User avatar
autograffix
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2023 8:26 am

Re: Elementary basketball help (weird, right?)

Post by autograffix »

Thanks a ton!

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “For Educators”