Le mini hoop

Le mini hoop is a mini basketball hoop with an automatic return system powered by 600 rpm motor.

This was my team project from my mechanical design class, we set out to reduce the friction of having to pick up the basketball after every shot.

The frame was laser cut with acrylic, the ramp was a laser cut out of wood with a living hinge design (to flex as a ramp), and the flywheels & gears were 3D printed with PLA.

When fully spun, the flywheels can launch the ball to the person's chest up to ~10 feet.

We ran into some roadblocks. We wanted to use a motion sensor to turn on the motor when the ball was in the funnel, but it took too long for the flywheels to spin up. So the motor was controlled with an on/off switch. Also, we didn't plan out fully how the electrical components would fit in the assembly, so there was a bit of a mess with wires in the end product.