A dartboard that moves to wherever you throw for a bullseye every time: it sounds like something one might find in a magical tavern in a Harry Potter novel. But it's real, because what is better than magic? That's right, engineering.
Mark Rober, former NASA engineer turned YouTube mad scientist explains his creation:
With six infrared cameras, the dartboard tracks the specially-built darts while canceling out the noise of the outside environment. Then, using parabolic arcs and "good ol' y = mx +b,"—straight lines, that is—the brains of the board can calculate where the dart will hit, both vertically and horizontally.
For an engine, Rober used six separate motors powered by an Arduino to get things moving. Spools of fishing wire are pulling and tugging at the board itself from the engines, which make their moves based on trigonometry gained from data from the infrared cameras.
While Rober's setup might be a bit expensive for your basement bar (and time-consuming, considering it took him three years to build), the alternate use of the device—a dartboard guaranteed to move out of the way of any dart—is such a perfect prank that it might be worth it.
Source: Mark Rober
