Automated Tennis Racquet Stringer

[@barrettpeterson3629]

Very innovative. The world has been waiting a long time for an automated tennis stringer.

[@tqtrinh01]

It’s prestrung.. I see no weaving of the crosses.

[@harrychristodoulou3809]

From no strings on the racket to have the racket put in place on the rack and the strings fed through (tension adjustable) how long did it take? Can you show how it fed the strings through the grommets aswell ... full video please?

[@NateBabbel]

Incredible!!

[@Pixel_Edits2]

I NEED ONE OF THESE

[@loflog]

It looks like only half the arms are actually used?

[@DB-CA]

It might work for nylon strings but I doubt on polyester strings. That machine will kink the strings with that hook.

[@SJPDurham]

Intriguing piece of equipment. Would be interesting to see if a badminton racket could handle it.

[@mattpols]

The process is the same for badminton, squash and racquetball on my machine. My first focus is on tennis though. I know badminton racquets are currently even more time consuming to string than tennis racquets so I look forward to putting some attention in that area down the road.

[@ChristopherBrice-kd9xp]

This is amazing, you should get intellectual property protection over this technology, then get funding from the racket manufacturers to develop your ultimate version, get a royalty on every machine sold and spend your time travelling to all the Majors!

[@mattpols]

I’m glad you find this interesting. I do have a patent on it. Traveling to all the majors is a dream of mine.

[@MrGweilo]

I don’t get it, how does the machine get the string to go above/below/above/below each perpendicular string?? Would love to understand more the mechanics of this 🤔

[@gianniroma5593]

Where is this project now? Are you up to something serious like funding etc?

[@followhim4425]

This is amazing!

[@mahaney030]

I see this was sped up. How long does the process take?

[@Schnoebel]

How much did it cost to build this machine?

[@angelahonolulu8602]

look like fun is it reall?

[@prophetmargin7497]

Have they done any tests to determine if a player can tell the difference between a racket strung by this automated machine or a human stringer?

[@mattpols]

Myself and others who have played with racquets coming off this stringing machine have not experienced any difference in play. With current machines strings are pulled one at a time with either a dead weight or a digital continuous pull. My approach is a continuous pull approach but using pneumatics with all pulling arms on the same closed loop ensuring a uniform pull based on a PSI to lbs conversion. The biggest difference is I am pulling on a loop instead of a single strand of tennis string which splits the force. This requires me to pull with sufficient area as to not cause undo force on the loop. The other area I have to take into account is the increased force the racquet frame will receive, to mitigate this I have a molded insert the racquet sits in gripping it causing what I relate to the squeezing of an egg with one's had causing a distribution on the force across a large area of the racquet protecting it much more than the current approach even with half the force being applied. All of that being said there is no reason strings will be tensioned differently than the current approach and have not noticed a difference myself.

[@prophetmargin7497]

@@mattpols I have a continuous pull machine as well and I find the biggest advantage is, it allows the string to gradually stretch on each pull which makes for a more consistent string job, where tension loss is minimal over time!

[@dealinwithdbass]

How does this prevent string burn?

[@mattpols]

The speed is adjustable. I am able to move it quickly until the final tensioning because I am not running over tight mains until the very end and at that point it slows down to ensure it doesn’t come close to burning. The added benefit is I don’t require a clamp every time it’s tensioned, only starting and finishing knots. There is no visible or physical signs of wear on the string when it comes off. I am your average 4.0 player and haven’t had any issues with the strings and have have college teams test it also without any notice differences in play or longevity of string quality.

[@mybluesky123]

Wow!!

[@nellynelson965]

Erm. I can string a racket in 11 minutes if you take away pre lacing as the time. Im not knocking the engineering, but Naa

[@raghu321able]

how to contact you sir. if any contact details share plz to talk

[@shipwreck8847]

Ok, this is overly complicated for something that in today's advancements we should find something easier than having one mechanical arm per grommet with 20,000 wires running through the circuit board. If you can print a home with a home printer, you can string a racquet without making it look like a piece of NASA equipment.

[@mattpols]

For most stringing applications this is currently too large. The previous version I made was too small. Making this a knee jerk the other direction. My next version is going to be closer to half the size and incorporate more wireless communication to clean up the wires. As a prototype, beauty is sacrificed for function. I appreciate the observation and look to take it from a 1970’s NASA look into a 21st century aerospace sleek design but it’s a process. I hope you stick around and watch it evolve. As far as the number of pneumatic arms it’s a trade off of speed and decreased change-over time accomplished in this design vs more advanced robotics and movement and precision of either the racquet or the pneumatic arm(s) to facilitate a smaller footprint while allowing maximum automation.