Tinder Mechanism
Brainstorming & Prototyping
My team and I were given the challenge to create a product with various mechanisms that would control the fall of a steel marble and allow users to initiate some of the mechanisms in a creative way. Since we needed to create a sequence of different actions initiated by a single motion, we decided to go with the theme of “Tinder”, where the user would swipe left or right and be given fun “matches” depending on where the ball fell.
Troubleshooting
My team and I brainstormed various themes that we could use to tell a story and ended up choosing to follow the theme of Tinder and initiate the slider mechanism to give the user arbitrary storylines for who their “match” was. This consisted of creating mechanisms such as a controlled swing, a plank, and ramps. We ran into various challenges when making this, but we worked tirelessly to come up with creative solutions to our problems, including changing the shape of our cart and adding an angled slab under it in order for it to tip over and dump the ball consistently.
Final product
Success!
After hours of troubleshooting and altering the functionalities of the different mechanisms, we created a successful mechanism that anyone can use!
Build it.
Finally, we completed the final product out of foam-core, which consisted of 3 fully-functioning mechanisms that slowed down the motion of the metal ball. To finish it off, we decorated it to have the thrilling vibe of Tinder!