Single Player Tennis

Intro

The era of physical distancing has changed the dynamics of everyday activities and interactions, including sports. An example of this is tennis - a sport that's much more fun with a partner, or at least an opponent to compete against. When playing with others isn't an option though, what can you do? Well, that's where Single Player Tennis comes in. With enough space in your backyard and a hard wall to hit against (or at least materials to make one), you'll be well on your way to simulating a game of tennis on your own. You'll essentially be playing singles tennis, online!

Function

Tennis backboards are common practice tools to help players improve their strokes, but it can get monotonous after a while. Single Player Tennis gamifies the backboard experience by simulating a virtual opponent.

According to a study, the average collegiate tennis rally lasts approximately 6 seconds. A randomized timer (between 2-15 seconds) will be initialized at the start of each point and a red light will signal the end of the point. At this point, the Player can push a button to signal that they "won" the point by successfully returning the ball with proper form; otherwise, the Computer "wins" the point, and the next cycle starts. This continues until either the Player or the Computer wins the game.

Challenges

Part 1 - I started out playing tennis against the wall of our house in our backyard, but it was causing too much noise (and sometimes made the walls shake), so my family decided to put some time into a weekend project and build a tennis backboard for our backyard. I was lucky that they were willing to support me in this project and help build the tennis backboard because although the building plan was simple, I had no power tool experience whatsoever. My dad had some extra pieces of wood from a previous project and was extremely helpful in building and placing the backboard.

Part 2 - Since I don't have an Arduino at home, I used TinkerCad to simulate and code the program. The program comes with a library of basic components, including an LCD screen and a push button. The library also includes a WiFi module that I wanted to use, but the simulation software limited its functionality.

Future

My main goal for this hackathon was to create an Arduino-based project in order to better understand how to use it and to get comfortable with its syntax. I like the idea of having a physical push button to signal whether I "won" the point or not, but it may be more feasible to turn the entire idea into an app for a phone/smart watch. Otherwise, if more features/components are added to the TinkerCad simulation library, I may integrate the WiFi/Bluetooth module to communicate with my phone.

I'd also add features to increase the game count to at least 6 games so that the Player and the Computer can play at least 1 set if they wished.

Elements

i = 0;

while (!deck.isInOrder()) {
    print 'Iteration ' + i;
    deck.shuffle();
    i++;
}

print 'It took ' + i + ' iterations to sort the deck.';