So here's what i am trying to make. A set of juggling balls that tells a computer to call up different sound file based on how high each ball is when it reaches its peak. Now, I believe this can be accomplished by using a microcontroller and an accelerometer, by using the the speed of the ball as soon as it leaves my hand to judge how high it is going to go, and when the speed slows down to the point of falling back down to my hand to judge the peak.

However, I am a juggler throwing myself into this world to make this, and know very little about this stuff. It seems to me like this MCU would work - https://estore.ti.com/EZ430-RF2500-MSP430-Wireless-Development-Tool-P1148.aspx - but I have no idea what accelerometers, if any, that this would be compatible with, or even if this MCU would be my best choice.

So, if anyone has any light they would be able to shed on all this, any advice, reading material, how-to videos, anything that might help, I would greatly appreciate it. thanks!

TJ the Juggler

 

TJ, you might consider a wireless acceleration board linked to a microcontroller but that is a fairly expensive and fragile idea at best. The WII brand of accelerometrs might work also, but the are pretty pricey too. Using an accelerometer would give a different pitch for each toss height, but may be dificult to manipulate by the tosser to get a good variable sound and repeatable result. Just a thought on a different way to get where your going. Hope it gives you some ideas..
Bob

 

Finding the peak height in real time can't be done with this method, the acceleration on the ball is constant while it is in the air. The accelerometer will read zero from the moment it leaves your hand to when you catch it again.
<ed> It should be possible to calculate from the acceleration while it is in you hand. </ed>