Jonathan Perlman
Perfect Swings USA Prototype
This project was brought to Pitt's X-Projects program as concept by John and Dom Morabito. Their proposal to Pitt was to have students help them take their idea of a baseball tee that could train one's swing into a product. I was selected to work on this project, originally in a team of 4 for "Phase 1", and then became team lead for a team of 3 in "Phase 2". "Phase 1" was to take the concepts we were given and make a prototype, whereas "Phase 2" was to take the prototype to a pre-production level where John and Dom could show a manufacturer and get it built. As you scroll, both phases are divided into sections below.
You can now see their product for sale at perfectswingsusa.com
PHASE 1
In the first phase, I was tasked with getting the tee to extend from the bottom of a children's tee, to the top of an adult tee. The design I came up with is the piece of the tee that is currently in the patent process. It is a reverse 4-bar with a gas-spring assist, which you can see to the right of this paragraph. This mechanism replaced the expensive locking-telescope method the client originally had in mind. The development of this mechanism and the rest of the tee can be seen in the "Phase 1" Album below, while the "Phase 2" Album will show the process of going from prototype to a pre-production product.
Project Brief:
The main objective of this project is to create a robust version of John Morabito’s Swing Coach baseball tee system. It will be developed with the possibility of future commercialization in mind.
The following were design goals:
- Easily adjustable height so users can practice for low and high pitches
- Robust construction
- Easy transport
- Tee must remain vertical
- Table top must rotate 180 degrees
- Guide bar must adjust for lefty and righty hitters
Design Feature
Initially there was a heavy push by my team lead, and the client to use a mechanism that was similar to the medical table (as seen in this image). We later learned that this mechanism was too heavy, too bulky, and too hard for a person to swing their bat into if they swung low.
This was my first concept of what is now the part of the tee going through the patent process. While i was a strong supporter of this mechanism, it was actually shot down as the team was told to work on the telescope idea.
It doesn't look stellar yet; however, with the main concepts achieved the team began CAD work and the steps of fabrication.
Initially there was a heavy push by my team lead, and the client to use a mechanism that was similar to the medical table (as seen in this image). We later learned that this mechanism was too heavy, too bulky, and too hard for a person to swing their bat into if they swung low.
PHASE 2
Now with all of the major concepts in mind, fabrication on the tee began. At this stage I was also named team lead, and asked to re-structure the team. Below are the fabrication goals of this phase, as well as a Gantt chart to show the timelines we were working with. This phase mostly consisted of CAD design and fabrication via CNC machines and 3D printers, and also contained topics such as material selection and design complexity.
Using Team Gantt, the team followed this chart to ensure the project would get completed on time.
The album of "Phase 2" where you can see the current iteration of the Morabito Swing Coach, as well as a video demonstration, can be seen below.
Final prototype in upright position.
Tee in low position.
When in transport, the latch flips down in order to lock the lifting mechanism from expanding.
Final prototype in upright position.
