If you’re looking for something to do and, like the folks on the Stuff team, you have a little too much technology lying around then there are options available to you. Unconventional options. Take Jose Julio, who has converted a RepRap 3D printer into something that it really shouldn’t be capable of being – an air-hockey robot.
Julio, according to his blog, was able to turn the 3D printer into an AI controlled air-hockey opponent with the assistance of a few bits of wood, the printer, an Arduino Mega controller, a few PC fans and a collection of 3D-printed components. The code for the air-hockey robot, which can be seen in action in the video above, was created from scratch by Julio. A PlayStation camera, suspended above the game board, allows the robot to see and react to the air-hockey puck.
Julio has got a more detailed rundown of the build process on his blog, along with the code which has been published to GitHub. If you’re really keen on making your own 3D printer air-hockey robot, Julio has also released detailed build instructions for the setup as it stands now.
Source: The Verge
