The way the marble launcher works is you place a marble that has a diameter less than 2cm into the PVC pipe. Once the ball is in, you pull on the two struts poking out of the slots; the farther you pull it down, the farther the ball goes. Once you let go of the struts at the same time, the springs will pull the laser-cut piece forward, and the ball will be pushed out. This is elastic energy converted to kinetic energy, the springs are elastic and the launched marble is kinetic.

I think the most successful part of this product is that the ball can launch out with no problems. The product is also pretty light and self-explanatory.

I need to use stronger glue as the one I used is pretty weak, so the pieces could come off at any moment. I also didn’t have time to make it easier to use like adding a trigger mechanism or connecting it onto a wooden board. Another area I can improve on is the springs as the ones I used were two springs connected together.

The product is fairly environmentally-friendly. PVC pipes are one of the most sustainable products as it requires less energy and fewer resources to manufacture compared to old materials. The product is also beneficial for the consumer as they can learn about elastic energy from a simple toy. They can also figure out that the springs are launching the ball as it is visible to the user.

The marble launcher

I was able to get the slots cut into the PVC pipe but the width of it was inconsistent and different on each side. This caused the laser-cut piece to get stuck in certain areas, but the other pieces of the mechanism came out fine. The glue from the hot glue gun also fell off on some parts or didn’t keep the mechanism together. I’m planning on laser-cutting a new piece instead of sanding the slots. For the areas that need to be glued, I’m not sure what other methods there are. Besides those issues, everything else was fine. I couldn’t get any testing done at this point due to the issue with the slots.

Slots on the side of the PVC pipe

The glue keeping the spring and laser-cut piece together

I will need to learn how to add hinges onto the tube and the board if I choose to make everything I drew in the sketch. Whether I make it or not will be decided later on in the process of making the product. The materials I need are all accessible in school.

1st lesson: collecting materials, marking the areas that need to be cut

2nd lesson: cut the marked areas and measure dimensions for the laser-cut components, fixing issues if there are any

3rd lesson: laser-cut components and assemble them, gluing the mechanism together, fixing issues if there are any

4th lesson: assembling components with the PVC pipe, fixing issues if there are any, testing if I finish

5th lesson: fixing issues from testing

The task is to design and create a product (toy, device) that converts/transfers energy.

I’m thinking of making a marble launcher that uses a spring.

Tutorial on marble launcher

What I like about it is that the materials are common and easy to obtain. What I don’t like is some parts of the assembly process may be difficult.

The target audience of the product is anyone that wants a device to launch a ball for a game or towards a target. The main purpose is entertainment.

The pros of them are the design is the materials are easy to get and the mechanism is easy to understand. The cons are the assembly process is a bit difficult and the design may need changes to put the ball into the product.