Engineering students create smart pickleball machine
The project showcases how the College of Engineering’s capstone experience challenges students to integrate design, electronics, manufacturing and teamwork into a single, functional system.
From classrooms and labs to the pickleball court, NDSU engineering students are applying what they’ve learned to design solutions with real-world impact. The Smart Pickleball Machine senior design project, developed by mechanical engineering students Sarah Nistler, Ryan Rustad, Josh Martin and Brayden Wehseler, showcases how the College of Engineering’s capstone experience challenges students to integrate design, electronics, manufacturing and teamwork into a single, functional system.
The team set out to design and fabricate a smart pickleball launcher that could serve as a training aid for players looking to improve their skills. Unlike traditional practice machines, their concept allows players to train independently, replacing the need for a constant partner on the opposite side of the court.
“This allows players to have a robot or machine instead of needing somebody else to play with all the time,” said mechanical engineering major Josh Martin, a member of the design team. “It’s meant to be a consistent, repeatable training tool.”
Differentiating through design
Early in the project, the team conducted market research to evaluate existing pickleball machines. They quickly identified a gap: many commercial options lacked the ability to generate side spin, a key component of realistic match play.
“A lot of in-market models don’t have side spin capability,” Martin said. “Our main goal was to design a machine that could mimic all types of shots you’d see in a real pickleball match.”
The resulting design uses a four-wheel ejector system capable of launching balls with programmable speed, direction and spin. The machine can be controlled remotely via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, allowing players to adjust settings from the opposite side of the court.
Overcoming technical challenges
Achieving that level of performance wasn’t without challenges. One of the team’s biggest hurdles involved controlling tolerances within the four-wheel launching mechanism.
“You’ve got four wheels spinning at the same time, all needing to contact the ball evenly,” Martin explained. “Getting the ball to fit through all four wheels and contact each surface correctly was really challenging.”
The team tackled the problem through an iterative design process. They began with a wooden prototype and 3D-printed components to test fitment and alignment. When early tests revealed issues, they refined the design and transitioned to an aluminum version manufactured with tighter tolerances.
“With the aluminum version, we got better alignment and added spacers so we could fine-tune distances as needed,” Martin said. “That process helped us get pickleballs launching cleanly and consistently.”
Throughout development, the students leaned on faculty guidance, peer collaboration and hands-on problem-solving, hallmarks of the senior design experience.
Education put into practice
Martin credits several NDSU engineering courses with preparing the team for the project.
“Being able to put designs into CAD, send them to the machine shop, and then see them come together as a real product was huge,” he said. “Classes like MATLAB helped with conceptual design and optimization, while courses in statics, dynamics, materials and machine design all played a role.”
Beyond technical skills, the project emphasized collaboration and project management. Each team member brought a distinct strength to the group, from conceptual design and hands-on manufacturing to purchasing and documentation.
“We had a really good variation in skill sets,” Martin said. “Everyone was willing to jump in and help whenever needed, and that made a big difference.”
Preparing for what’s next
While commercialization was outside the project’s scope, the team sees future potential for the concept with additional prototyping and refinement. More importantly, the experience mirrors the product development process graduates will encounter in industry.
“You see this same process everywhere, concept generation, narrowing designs, meeting customer requirements,” Martin said. “This project really reinforced how engineering works in the real world.”
The smart pickleball machine exemplifies the value of the College of Engineering’s senior design program, where students turn ideas into tangible solutions while gaining the technical, collaborative and problem-solving skills that prepare them for successful engineering careers.