Clever Table Tennis racket lets you add weights to its hollow handle for better control

Posted on 10/05/2023 by Sarang Sheth

Table tennis is a game that requires absolute coordination between your hands and eyes. You need to watch the ball, predict its path, and make sure your racket aligns exactly at the right position and angle to ensure the ball goes exactly where you want it to go. A lot of this hand-eye coordination happens without you really knowing or noticing, but sometimes your hand just moves a little too fast or slow for your liking. The reason? Well, maybe it’s your racket.

If you’ve ever played golf or gone bowling, you know how much influence weight has on your performance. Go for something with less weight, and your hands can often miscalculate their trajectory. More weight usually means better control, but too much and your hand really gets influenced by the weight rather than the other way around. The Nimbus brings that strategy to the table tennis racket. With the ability to add weights to the racket’s handle, the Nimbus lets you fine-tune your gameplay for better control. The weights can alternatively be replaced with a tracking module that helps you track your racket trajectory in 3D for post-game analysis.

Designer: Shubhangi Chuhadia

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The Nimbus racket comes with an ergonomic design that’s characterized by a streamlined form that transitions seamlessly from grip to paddle. The grip, however, has a hollow slot in it, which lets you insert weights into the racket. Made from titanium, these weights range between 2.5 and 5 grams, giving your handle a distinct heft that can influence your gameplay. Choose the weight that benefits your game the most, and once you’ve perfected it, downgrade to a lower weight to train your muscles and reflexes.

“I began by studying the needs of players with a learning mindset and focused on enhancing both digital and physical elements to improve gameplay. This involved developing a customizable racket and improving the handle’s ergonomics for extended play”, said designer Shubhangi. “After extensive rapid prototyping and testing, I proceeded to refine the surface to ensure durability during prolonged use.”

To help further improve your game, Shubhangi even created a tracker module, made from plastic. When inserted, the module can track your paddle’s position, movement, speed, and tilt to help you understand your technique and improve upon it. The Nimbus is conceptual for now, but Shubhangi mocked up a prototype to test the product’s performance and ergonomics. Here’s hoping that we see a realized product on the market sometime soon!

The post Clever Table Tennis racket lets you add weights to its hollow handle for better control first appeared on Yanko Design.

Absolutely quirky Ping Pong Tables let you play in unique styles and with multiple people

Posted on 20/04/2023 by Sarang Sheth

Designed by French creative outfit NEDJ, this series of Ping Pong tables flip the sport on its head, questioning and breaking all the rules… like why must the table look exactly like a miniature tennis court? What if it looked like a golf course or a squash court instead? Or better, what if it was designed for a chaotic game between three people instead of two??

The series of new tables bring an element of fun and surprise to the game, reinventing them in a way that should make even experts feel like curious amateurs. Gone are the days of boring, rectangular tables. These tables range from curved to perforated, and even three-dimensional to create more surfaces for the ball to bounce off of. Consider this also my formal petition to have these tables in the Olympics!

Designer: NEDJ

Broadly, NEDJ’s Ping Pong Tables come in four styles, the Table GOLF (in yellow), Table TRIO (in red), Table REBOUND (in green), and Table TOURNANTE (in yellow). All four tables have their own distinct design based around different styles of playing. The Golf, for example, feels reminiscent of Beer Pong, as opponents get points for shooting the ping pong ball directly into the hole. The Trio, on the other hand, is made for three people. Based on artist Asger John’s invention of three-sided football, the table comes with a hexagonal design that’s split into three equal parts with a Y-shaped net in between. The aim of the game is to be cunning enough to team up to beat the more powerful/talented player, giving them a distinct disadvantage and adding some chaotic fun to the game.

The Rebound table turns the ping pong ball into a parkour artist, having it bounce off different angled surfaces to add new dynamism to the game. To win, you have to anticipate the rebounds and measure your shot to put your opponent in a difficult position. The Tournante, finally, may look like the most simple table of the lot, but requires the most amount of agility. Based on the ‘revolving’ style of gameplay, players have to run around the table, switching sides every two volleys. This means that the game can also involve more than two plays, and up to as many as 6-7 players who keep rotating around the table with every shot. The rounded edges make running around the table a lot easier, and also help develop your aim and ability to spin the ball in the air, so as to keep it on the table!

Short for “Nouvelles Expériences de Jeu” (or New Gaming Experiences), NEDJ is a Paris-based design outfit that’s looking to radically reinvent popular games. The ping pong tables are their flagship series, and the studio’s even done a number on traditional ping pong rackets, adding uniquely quirky new shapes to their catalog. Made entirely in-house, the tables range anywhere from €2,300 ($2521 USD) to €3,000 ($3,289), while a set of 12 racquets costs €1,500 ($1,644).

The post Absolutely quirky Ping Pong Tables let you play in unique styles and with multiple people first appeared on Yanko Design.

Make your own Pixel clock using Ping Pong Balls and LEDs!

Posted on 08/01/2021 by Sarang Sheth

It’s a pretty rare thing for me to talk about something like the DIY Ping Pong Ball LED Clock, because it isn’t a product. It’s a set of instructions that you can follow to make your own! Posted on the Instructables website (owned by Autodesk), this nifty clock comes from the mind of a tinkerer by the username ‘thomasj152’. The clock uses a series of circular pixels, created by Ping Pong balls that have LEDs within them. The spherical shape of the balls means the pixels are arranged in a hexagonal layout (which makes for a pretty unique font style when you get numbers to flash on it), and a wooden frame holds the entire unit together, balls, batteries, circuit board and all.

While I’m not going to lay down the step-by-step instructions here (you can head to the Instructables page to check it out), the process is relatively simple and does involve power tools. The individual ping pong balls need to be truncated (chopped) a little below the midline, before being glued together in their hexagonal layout. They’re then fitted into a frame, and mounted on a backplate that has the LEDs and Arduino board assembled in. The LEDs and Ping Pong balls don’t need to align perfectly, because the diffusive property of the plastic used in the ping pong balls will ensure the entire ball illuminates almost evenly like a glowing orb. Just make sure when you’re cutting up the ping pong balls, you take the logo out, because you don’t want that shining on your clock!

An Arduino Nano microcontroller takes care of the software end, and all you need to do is run the script provided on the Instructables site to get your clock running. Yes, that rainbow background is built right into the code, although there’s one with just the numbers too. Makes for a nice quirk-punk addition to your workspace, or even a very meaningful gift to a family member or a friend!

Designer: thomasj152

Click Here to Make Your Own!

This Crazy Rube Goldberg Machine Is a Tape Dispenser

Posted on 30/04/2018 by Conner Flynn

What if I told you that it takes a full five minutes to get a single piece of tape out of this insane Rube Goldberg machine? Hey, it’s about the journey, not the tape. At least that’s what I would keep telling myself if I had to wait on this machine to get said tape.

This overly complicated machine was built by Youtuber DaksDominos. It took him two months to put it together, and he had to get through 187 failed attempts before finally getting this video of a success. The amount of stuff happening on this machine is crazy. Remember, he had to set everything up again each time. That’s crazy. Isn’t this the definition of insanity? How does anyone have that much patience? Or maybe he just really needed a piece of tape that badly.

Anyway, you can watch the whole process right here without having to invest two months and 187 failed attempts. That’s the benefit of letting someone else do all of the work for you. It just goes to show you that with enough SOLO cups, ping pong balls, Hot Wheels tracks, and tape, you can do almost anything, as long as you don’t mind that it takes forever to do.

[via The Awesomer via Sploid]

A Very Expensive Game of Ping Pong

Posted on 23/01/2018 by Jack O'Farrell

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The lifestyles of the rich and famous are getting more insane as the days grow old. With every day that passes another mansion is sold, and another golden iPhone is bought. What I have never seen before though is a crystal ping pong table…yup, that’s right, crystal. The Italian design company Impatia have made some staggeringly overindulgent ‘sports’ equipment.

I’m not saying this isn’t the coolest thing in the world because as far as I’m concerned, I need this in my life. Made of pure crystal, there is no denying that this magnificent table is a work of art. As if the notion of having a crystal glass ping pong table wasn’t showing off enough, this table is also available with the add-on of 24 Karat gold coated connecting joints and a net handmade by an Italian goldsmith. If you ever felt bad about buying this table, you could always try to get your money’s worth by eating your Sunday dinner on it.

Designer: Adriano Design for Impatia

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Single-player Ping Pong: Table (Tennis) for One

Posted on 08/05/2017 by Conner Flynn

Single player ping pong? That’s just a pipe-dream. It’s a myth. People have been chasing that dragon for years. It’s vaporware! Pie in the sky fantasy! Not anymore. The dream has become a reality.

Check out the video below as The Q demonstrates how to make a wooden table tennis game for one person. You control both players. Which means that you always win. And you always lose. Damn.

Now you no longer need a partner to play ping pong thanks to this awesome table for one person! It’s easy to build and fun to play. It would be interesting to see how long you could keep a game going for.

[via Laughing Squid]

Adam Savage Builds a Ping Pong Machine Gun

Posted on 30/01/2017 by Conner Flynn

Adam Savage will never stop building awesome things. Why would he? The man has the coolest job in the world. He gets to play all day and come up with cool new toys and make them a reality. His latest project is for Tested’s One Day Builds series, in which he built an awesome ping pong machine gun, using a leaf blower as its source of air.

He wanted to build this rapid-firing ping pong ball weapon since he was a child, and it looks like he’s fully achieved his big dream. This weapon will be used in his and Michael Steven‘s (Vsauce) upcoming touring show Brain Candy Live. Judging by this build, we don’t want to miss it.

If you don’t have the time to watch the whole build, you can skip to 18:25 to see it in action.

The ping pong machine gun really should be involved in some kind of new Olympic sport, where teams shoot each other over long tables and score points.

[via Laughing Squid]

The post Adam Savage Builds a Ping Pong Machine Gun appeared first on Technabob.

Trainerbot Ping Pong Robot: Eiichiro Maruobot

Posted on 18/05/2016 by Lambert Varias

If you can’t afford a table tennis coach but a wall isn’t good enough for you, check out the Trainerbot. It’s a smart ping pong ball launcher that will give you the exact shot you want for as long as you want.

Using its mobile app, you can program Trainerbot to fire very specific shots. It even divides your side of the table into nine zones, Baby Steps-style, so you can pick where you want it to shoot. You can also fine tune the trajectory and spin of its shot. You can also string multiple shots together and save them as a training drill. You’ll also be able to export the drills you created to help – or troll – other Trainerbot users.

Trainerbot also has preset drills with varying difficulty, a multiplayer mode and a cathartic smash mode for quick plug-and-play sessions. The robot can hold up to 30 ping pong balls, which it can all throw at you in 15 seconds at its fastest setting. It doesn’t come with a Ballboybot though.

Pledge at least $329 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a Trainerbot as a reward. The Trainerbot Pro variant comes with a stand so you can position it from a more realistic distance and height.

[via Gadgetify]

The Coconut Paddle Looks Awesome, Costs An Arm

Posted on 29/02/2016 by David Ponce

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Well, as far as ping pong paddles go, this has got the be the most eye catching one we’ve ever come across. It’s called the Coconut Paddle, and there is no coconut involved in its making. Instead, there’s a Blonde 3 Ply Bamboo Wood, with custom inserts in the handle. The shape of that handle is not only ergonomic but allows for left or right handed play. And like anything that looks unusual and seems overengineered, the price is through the roof: $108. For reference, that’s about $100 more than we’d be willing to pay for a ping pong paddle, but then again we know nothing about the game and wouldn’t be surprised if professional grade paddles fetch even higher prices.

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[ Product Page ] VIA [ HiConsumption ]

Super-Hydrophobic Paddles Let ISS Astronaut Play Liquid Ping-Pong

Posted on 22/01/2016 by Shane McGlaun

If there were ever a reason to put Forrest Gump on the ISS, this would be it. NASA sent up a pair of special paddles to the space station that allow astronauts to play ping-pong with water globes. The paddles were laser etched and then coated with Teflon, making them super-hydrophobic.

The combination creates a surface that water can’t adhere to. The result is that you can smack floating orbs of water between the paddles. NASA says the larger the drop, the less force it takes to smash the floating glob of water, the smaller the drops the harder you can hit them so you need some finesse. Astronaut Scott Kelly demonstrates the phenomenon in the video below:

I’d assume the Russian contingent on the space station has vodka. The U.S. team has the paddles. This could be the best drinking game in history. Rules of Vodka Pong are each astronaut gets a chance to smash the vodka into the mouth of the competition, if it hits their mouth, they have to swallow. The first one to puke loses and has to clean up the floating mess. You’re welcome, astronauts.

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