Splatapult

Art is a means to express oneself as a human being. There is no limit on how art can be created, but some circumstances are present that limit artists’ ability to create. Open Arms Care (OAC) Corporation of Chattanooga, TN requested that students from the freshman Introduction to Engineering Design course at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga design and produce a device that assists their clients in the painting activity widely known as “splat art”. Many of the OAC clients are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy which limits body movement and control and thus their ability to create art. The device the team of four students developed is based on the basic catapult and is affectionally called “Splatapult”. This design allows artists with various limitations in movement to create art, with or without assistance.

Before choosing a final design, the team defined the following objectives for the device to reflect: be mountable, easy to adjust, easy to clean, easy to trigger and portable. The Splatapult’s primary function is to splat paint, but it also holds paint, delivers paint, positions direction, adjusts height, releases paint, and interchanges parts. The constraints given by the customer focused on ensuring user safety during use.

The Splatapult uses a three-spring system that creates enough force to launch paint from a desired distance of 6-10 feet. The throw arm is held in the launch position by a smooth pin release. The Splatapult sits on top of a mobile support platform comprised of a wheeled laptop table. The mobile support platform gives the Splatapult the ability to rotate, tilt, and adjust height for aiming purposes. The Splatapult requires assistance from Open Arms Care art department personnel to set position and load paint.

Author(s):

Jacob McDaniel    
College of Engineering and Computer Science
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States

Zachary Jones    
College of Engineering and Computer Science
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States

Brandon Lewis    
College of Engineering and Computer Science
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States

Greg Hamoui    
College of Engineering and Computer Science
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States