Lego Table Tennis Robot

Yukon’s Arctic Winter Games Table Tennis athlete Elden Wickham started playing Table Tennis about 3 years ago. Now he is selected to represent Team Yukon for the upcoming circumpolar world multi sport event in Table Tennis and took some time to talk to us.

When did you start playing Table Tennis?

About three years ago, because our new house came with an old, broken down table so I started playing with my dad on that. One year for Christmas we bought him a new table which meant I could really improve my skills.

Why do you like playing Table Tennis?

Because it is fun, and I enjoy the fast pace of it, and as an individual sport which is different from what I have done before.

What inspired you to build a LEGO Table Tennis robot?

I have always loved robotics and since I really like table tennis, I decided to combine my two interests into a table tennis ball launcher.

How long did it take you to build the robot?

A week for the driving base built during a summer camp, an hour or so for the ball-launcher which was built from a YouTube tutorial, and a couple hours for the reloader. I had a functioning robot that could drive and shoot a ball, but one morning I decided to expand it to be able to hold a second ball, and maybe in the future a third and more.