The ball is being lifted by the wheel up into the funnel.
Before accomplishing this mission you must light all 3 pink lights under the funnel. Then use the wheel to raise the ball into the funnel, releasing the helicopter. To use the wheel, you must strike the barrier in front of the wheel three times. Indicator lights will tell you how many times the barrier has been struck. After the third strike, the barrier goes away and the wheel and funnel begin to turn. Now you can fire the ball up the ramp to the wheel where it will be lifted up to the funnel. If you zoom out you can see the helicopter spin at the upper left of the table.