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In response to the lack of adequate leisure activities for children at local schools, our project aims to create an inclusive outdoor arcade-style basketball system for kindergarteners and first graders at Baxter Primary School. The system features a shorter basketball hoop and arcade-style case that promotes competitive and cooperative play. The design emphasizes inclusivity, ensuring that the kids can actively engage with their peers during recess, fostering social interaction and reducing isolation.
Our client, Baxter Primary School, lacks inclusive recess equipment. The challenge was to design accessible play equipment that promotes fun, active social participation for all students, ensuring the kids can fully engage with each other during recess.
Double Hoop Arcade-style game
This design will mimic a classic arcade game as an angled table encased in netting. The user will shoot the ball and it will return to the front of the table. The hoops will sit about 4-5 ft off of the ground and it will be about 4-5 ft long. We hope the double hoop design will invite more kids to engage in the game together. While this design may require more costly material, it will benefit the school to have something new and fun to have at the playground.
Fixed hoop with tethered ball
This design is a traditional fixed basketball hoop with slight modifications to accommodate the intended user base. Therefore, the first modification being made would be lowering the hoop to a reasonable height for kindergarteners and first graders, about 5-6 feet. The next major change is tethering the ball to the hoop so that it does not stray too far. This reduces the reliance on others and frustration of having to chase a stray ball. While this design fits all design specifications, it would be difficult to design a tether system that would work without becoming tangled. This design would also likely require frequent maintenance.
Mobile Hoop
This basketball hoop is designed with the intent to be used both outdoors during the spring and summer months and indoor during the cold winter months. Equipped with three heavy duty casters along the bottom ring, this hoop can be easily transported around any school. Three anchor clips would be placed on the supports to be able to attach a bag/basket to “catch” the ball after it falls through the hoop. On the three supports spring pins allow for the legs to collapse inward making storage of the hoop easy. Downsides of this design span the likes of not having a backboard for a ball to bounce off of, the ball itself is not tethered to the hoop, and the casters would need maintenance in order to properly lock in place.
We have decided to go with Design 1 based on simplicity, safety, manufacturability, and ultimately based on the specifications of the contact.
The project aims to create an inclusive arcade-style basketball system for children in kindergarten and first grade students at Baxter Primary School. The chosen design features a double-hoop arcade-style game, where the hoops are positioned at a height of 4-5 feet off the ground to accommodate children of various abilities. The system includes an angled table encased in netting, allowing the ball to return to the front after a shot, minimizing the need for retrieval. This design encourages competitive and cooperative play, promoting inclusion and social interaction. Although the materials for this design may be more expensive, it addresses the key challenge of ensuring the playground experience is enjoyable for all students.
The proposed dimensions for this mechanism are 6 feet wide, 6 feet deep, and 7 feet in height, including the awning. The primary construction material will be wood, rather than steel or aluminum, to avoid the need for on-site welding. The awning will provide overhead coverage and some weather protection, in addition to helping prevent the balls from rolling away. The sides will be enclosed with plywood and netting to further contain the balls within the structure. The frame will be secured to the ground using concrete footings. The trough will be angled at approximately 5 degrees to control the ball descent speed. The front opening will stand roughly 1.5 feet high, facilitating easy ball retrieval. The hoops will be positioned 4 to 5 feet above the ground and set back 6 feet from the front. Weather-resistant stain and sealant will be applied to help maintain the mechanism over time, considering the local climate conditions in Tennessee.
Single shear analysis was done on the bolts used to secure the rim so that a decision could be made on what size bolts would be needed. This analysis assumed that the bolts would be grade 2 ASTM A266 steel. This is also a “worst case” scenario analysis, assuming a 100 pound child has crawled up into the frame and is hanging from the end of the hoop as this is likely the most amount of force that the rim could be subjected to during regular use. It was determined that the minimum diameter needed to secure this load with a safety factor of 2 would be .14 inches, which means we have a wide variety of options for bolt size that will allow us to cut cost without compromising safety.
This diagram shows a calculation of the combined weight of the basketball hoop’s backboard and frame, built using 2in x 4in x 6ft pieces of white wood for the frame and 1 1/8 inch thick plywood for the backboard.
The team ran a finite element analysis (FEA) to show the static displacement of a playground frame under vertical distributed loads applied along the top beams ranging from 100 to 245 Newtons (22.5 to 55 lbs) as well as gravity. The structure is fixed at the base, and the deformation is exaggerated by a factor of 3.28 to highlight areas of high displacement under load. This was mainly used to show where the weakest points in our design was and helped us optimize our frame design.
Fabrication Timeline:
12/2/2024 – Materials received
12/4/2024 – Front frame, rear frame, and side walls assembled
12/6/2024 – Trough assembled, plywood covering for front and rear frames added
12/9/2024 – Roof assembled, hoops attached
12/10/2024 – Wood sealed
12/12/2024 – Treated wood added at base of supports to maintain structural integrity underground
Due to little working space, modular design was chosen for easy transport and assembly. The final design includes a front and rear frame with slots that the side walls can slide into, with lips that allow the bottom of the trough to lay in. This design allows the entire piece to be assembled fully and inspected before being secured at time of install.
To ensure the safe and enjoyable use of the basketball arcade game, players and supervisors should follow these guidelines. Misuse of the equipment, such as hanging on the hoops or climbing on the backboards, can result in damage to the game and potential injuries. Adhering to these rules helps maintain the equipment’s integrity and ensures a safe play environment for all users.
Safety Guidelines:
This project was a fantastic experience, allowing us to take the knowledge we have been gaining over the years and use it to help disabled children within our community. It was a learning experience for every one of us, having little experience in woodworking and having extremely limited time. But, through hard work and long hours spent working and learning new skills we were able to provide disabled-friendly playground equipment for a child at a local school, who before had nothing else to play with. It is this tangible impact that made this project an incredibly rewarding experience and an opportunity for each of us to grow as engineers.
