parone

"Par One" is a Rolling Ball Sculpture with golf. A man operating a
ball machine gets a ball in his bucket, and pours it onto the golf
course. A golfer with a driver hits it onto the course, where it travels
down to a spiral funnel hole. A putter hits the ball toward the hole, it
misses the hole, and a gopher pops up and knocks the ball into the
hole. This sculpture is 24" (61 cm) tall, and has two separate tracks
for the balls to travel to the bottom.

What does "Par One" mean? At each hole in a golf course there is a
sign that says what the "par" is on the hole: how many strokes it should
take for a good golfer to get it in the hole. The easiest hole is "par 3"; a
harder one is "par 5". There is no "par 1" because then the golfer
would be expected to get the ball in the hole in one shot! Here, there is
a "par 1". However, the golfers get help from a gopher, and still get it in
the hole after hitting a duck or a squirrel.

The ball comes in behind the ball machine.
First the ball comes out of the chute into the
bucket, then the man leans over and dumps
the ball onto a track.

Infra-red lights and sensors in the ball
machine and the driver and putter tell the two
computer chips when a ball is ready for
action.

The duck is actually there to
slow down the ball, so that
it doesn't go into the spiral
hole too fast.

What looks like a ball on
a tee is the plumb bob.
"Par One" must be level
to function correctly.

When a ball arrives under the putter, a linear actuator raises the ball into
position under the putter. A servomotor makes the putter pivot his body
and swing his club.

The putter's ball hits a squirrel, misses the hole, and a gopher pops up
and knocks the ball into the hole. He is activated by a servomotor.

Inside of the base there are seven motors and two microcontrollers
(computer chips) to run everything.

One motor turns the spiral lift to get the balls to the top.

Four servomotors control the swings of the driver and the putter, the
emergence of the gopher, and the operation of the ball machine.

Two linear actuators (by Firgelli) push the balls up from under the
golfers into position to be hit.

Green and yellow LED lights at the top illuminate "Par One". There is a clear acrylic enclosure
(not shown) to enclose it all above the base.