0

I want to build a 10-15'' square or round wall panel and hang it on a wall. This I call the target. My son is supposed to hit it with a soccer ball. When he hits it the panel should change its color e.g. to green.

I've seen it already in some amusement parks, it's like a 7x7 wall panel each 10-15'' and you are supposed to hit it with a ball. I do not need this complexity, I just need it one of this wall panels roughly around 10-15''. I'm just saying it because I know it exists. So it needs to withstand rain, and I need to be able to fix it on the wall. It needs to resist some hits of the ball. Preferably to work with batteries.

Can you please help me find whether this is feasible, and especially which type of panel I need to buy.

Many thanks for your advise! P.S. I searched on google quite a lot, but couldn't find the right keywords.

Improve this question
3
  • You can make your own pressure plate using two thin sheets of metal. Adafruit has a pressure-senstive material that's pretty cheap but I don't know how much force it can hold up to. Maybe you could put a piece of thin polycarbonate over it to protect the sheet from the ball hitting it.
    – Phaelax z
    Commented Jul 29, 2019 at 19:33
  • are you saying that the panel rotates to reveal the back side which is painted green?
    – jsotola
    Commented Jul 29, 2019 at 21:58
  • colored lights can be hard to see in bright sunlight ... you could use a mechanical indicator ... take a basketball hoop and mount it parallel to the wall, and away from the wall, so that the ball goes through the hoop, hits the wall and drops down
    – jsotola
    Commented Jul 29, 2019 at 22:06

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

My guess is that if you can't find something pre-made (which would be by far cheapest thanks to the efficiencies of mass production), the best way would be to have two panels:

  • The back panel would be an LED panel, protected by the front panel from being hit by the ball.

  • The front panel would be a plastic (i.e.,transparent) panel with sensors - perhaps in the corners - to detect hits.

  • Then you need a small computer (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc.) to connect it all together to change the lights as needed, keep track of the score, etc. The hardware shouldn't cost all that much, but there would be some significant programming involved. Not a trivial project, but a lot of fun if you are truly geeky (like me) and have time (which I don't :-( )

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    The programming for this would be fairly simplistic actually. But if you have zero programming experience, then that would be a huge project in itself. But turning on a light when a pressure plate is hit wouldn't need the advanced logic from a raspberry board and you could potentially make this with just a basic breadboard and a few diodes.
    – Phaelax z
    Commented Jul 29, 2019 at 19:29
  • Why cant I just use a pressure pad switch without a computer? why would I need a small computer to turn on a led panel, or any type of simple light?
    – MMT
    Commented Aug 1, 2019 at 21:10
  • 1
    All depends on exactly what you are trying to do. If it is literally "blink the pad" then a switch is all you need. If you want to do any kind of scorekeeping or different colors depending on where it is hit or blink each time but go solid after 10 or whatever, then you start to need either a lot of discrete logic or a microcontroller. I'm a programmer, so to me everything looks like a computer...
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 1, 2019 at 21:13
  • Thank you, for your reply. However the key question is which type of sensors are appropriate? Indeed I just need an indication that he actually hit the panel, no sophistication in the beginning. I'm a programmer as well, this is why Raspberry Pi, seemed a bit too much for this type of project.
    – MMT
    Commented Aug 3, 2019 at 21:33

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.