Cardboard Cable Car

This cardboard cable car, 2 feet wide by 2.5 feet tall, needs to travel six feet--back and forth without human intervention.

After the car was cut from cardboard, paint had to be applied (my wife, Annelle, took care of that).

Connectors, pulleys and sensor adapters (3d printed) were necessary to attach to the cardboard, a motor and the weight. The weight, attached by string to the left end of the car, pulls the car to the left when the motor is inactive. The motor (shaft attached to a pulley) moves the car to the right until the car is in front of an ultrasonic transducer--then the car moves to the left.

Cardboard

Paint

String

Wood

Screws

Arduino Uno

Arduino Motor Shield

12 volt dc power supply

Ultrasonic transducer module

Wire

Print the 3d parts and wire the motor according to this schematic.

The printed cardboard connectors are fastened using (3) 3mm screws. String goes into the hole at the end.

The ultrasonic module was attached to the bracket using hook and loop tape.

Pulleys are assembled using 3mm screws. Number 6 wood screws through the center of the pulley act as bearings.

The motor is attached to the lower right side of the wood frame (1" x 2" boards).

This Arduino sketch operates the machinery.

Enjoy the cable car!