Automated tennis ball launcher

An innovative prototype of an automated tennis ball launcher has been designed and built to address the issue of commercial solutions being financially inaccessible to recreational players, small clubs, and tennis schools. The system integrates mechanical, electronic, and control subsystems into a functional mechatronic unit. Ball projection is achieved via two DC motors (24 V, 150 W) driving discs with TPU coating; topspin or backspin is generated by regulating the relative speed difference between the discs. Balls are automatically fed by a rotary mechanism from a segmented PETG hopper, while a worm-gear-driven horizontal oscillation assembly covers the full width of the tennis court. The trajectory height is adjusted by mechanically tilting the launch assembly, thereby precisely defining the ball’s landing depth on the court. Jam protection for the feeding mechanism relies on current monitoring using an ACS712 sensor coupled with an automatic reversal sequence. The entire system is controlled by an ESP32 microcontroller, with the user adjusting launch parameters wirelessly via the Blynk mobile app, resulting in a prototype produced at a significantly lower cost than commercial alternatives.