SparkFun Gives Beer Pong a Robotic Reboot

Typically speaking, beer pong been played the same way for years: a pair of two-person teams stand on opposite ends of a table and take tuns throwing ping pong balls into red Solo cups on the other side. However, it’s time that the decades-old staple of the modern college experience gets a high-tech upgrade.

Inspired by a YouTube video of beer pong with Roombas, Alex Wende and the SparkFun decided to give the game a twist with a remote-controlled robotic platform that moves the cups around.

The remote is equipped with two thumb joysticks and joystick breakouts, a wireless transceiver, a Teensy 3.2, a SparkFun Power Cell board, and a LiPo battery. Meanwhile, the robot uses another Teensy 3.2 and transceiver, as well as a serial motor driver, two micro gear motors, and six RedBot sensors.

What’s really neat is that the sensors serve as cup detectors. As the number of cups in play goes down, the robot’s movements decreases as well — making the game a little less challenging towards the end.

If this all sounds awesome, wait ’til you see it in action. Watch SparkFun’s clip below, and read all about the project here.