Mechatronics @ JKU proundly presents Magic Darts @ Ars Electronica Festival 2020, öffnet eine externe URL in einem neuen Fenster
Darts is a popular game but difficult to play perfectly. In this darts version players always hit the bullseye. What looks like witchcraft is disclosed as a Mechatronic system: a novel microwave sensor network detects the approaching dart, algorithms compute its trajectory and continuously estimate place and time of impact at the dartboard. Only ultrafast hydraulic actuators enable to move the dartboard into the target position in a few hundredths of a second. Such technologies will affect our future daily life: in autonomous cars, where microwave radars allow seeing in the dark, with fog or dust, and algorithms have to estimate the motion of potential obstacles. Or in exoskeletons, where hydraulic actuation enables ultimate compactness, low weight and energy consumption, which are far beyond limits of current technologies but necessary for a broader application.
The mechatronic system consists of sensors and actuators. Fast and precise movement through powerful hydraulic drives is accompanied with a novel network of next-generation radar sensors, seeing by day or night, in rain or fog. Fast signal processing for the estimatnion of position, velocity and time of impact finally controls the adjustment of the dartboard, faster than visible by the human eye.
A passionate team is key to the success of a mechatronic system.
Take a closer look at the magic behind the dart board.