Sensor system design.
Foos gives you a digital foosball experience while maintaining the classic physical gameplay you know and love. An exciting blend of digital and physical interactions.
Sensing the position of each rod in both linear and rotation while maintaining a loose, "free-spinning" handle, is quite a balancing act. I eventually settled on terminating the rod into a bearing on a cart (shown below).
This allows for minimal feedback into the player's hands during play. The carts also removed the need for the rod to be supported on the non-player side, while maintaining a level of robustness suitable for the local bar crowd.
Final proof of concept build.
Sensor design proof of concept. Absolute linear position with relative rotary position.
Sensor carriage prototype.
Sensor assembly.
Sensor array.
Sensor wiring in the proof of concept unit.
Sheet metal forming.
Checking fits.
Final proof of concept.