Final Project Journal

I used Fusion 360 for designing the Stroop Box because it allows me to create precise 3D models and technical drawings. I used it to design the outer case, the button layout, and the internal compartments for the electronics. Fusion 360 helped me visualize the final product, ensure that all components fit correctly, and prepare the files for laser cutting and 3D printing.

In Tinkercad, I connected 5 push buttons to pins 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Since I couldn't find my exact screen module, I used a regular I2C LCD for the simulation instead.

For the power source, I will use a 9V adapter. I chose this because it provides stable and sufficient voltage for the Arduino and all connected components, ensuring that the screen, buttons, and other electronics work reliably during the game.

the player would speak the answer and the code was handling voice input (with an extra library for speech recognition).

Instead of voice input, I replaced it with buttons. So wherever the original code was checking for a voice command, I used:

• pinMode(..., INPUT_PULLUP) → to set the buttons as inputs.
  
  

• digitalRead(...) → to read which button was pressed.
  
  

The rest of the flow stayed the same:

1. Start screen → shows "PRESS TO START".
   
   

2. Game loop → displays a color word in a random ink color.
   
   

3. Player input → now handled with physical buttons instead of voice.
   
   

4. Answer check → shows "Correct!" or "Wrong".
   
   

5. End screen → displays "GAME OVER" and the score out of 100.
   
   

So basically, I adapted the same logic but switched the input method from voice recognition to button presses, which made it simpler and more suitable for my Arduino project.

• • Adafruit_GFX → general graphics functions for drawing text, shapes, etc.

  • Adafruit_ST7789 → driver library for the ST7789 TFT display (135x240).

  • SPI → handles SPI communication protocol between Arduino and the display.

• I defined the TFT pins:

  • CS (10) → Chip Select pin for the display.

  • RST (9) → Reset pin to restart the display.

  • DC (8) → Data/Command pin to tell the display if I’m sending data or commands.

• I defined button pins:

  • Green → 2

  • Red → 3

  • Yellow → 4

  • Orange → 5

  • Start → 6

• I created the display object:
  
  Adafruit_ST7789 tft = Adafruit_ST7789(TFT_CS, TFT_DC, TFT_RST);

•  This object lets me use all the functions from the ST7789 library, like tft.init(), tft.setRotation(), and tft.print().
  
  

• So far:

  • I imported the libraries.

  • I set up the pins for the TFT and the buttons.

  • I created the display object.

  • Next step will be to write the setup() function to initialize the display and buttons, then add the game logic inside loop().
    
    

• I created arrays:

  • colors[] → text labels ("RED", "GREEN", "YELLOW", "ORANGE").

  • colorValues[] → actual TFT color values (using constants from Adafruit_ST7789).

  • buttons[] → an array of button pins to make checking them easier.

• In setup() I did:

  • Used Arduino core functions:

    • pinMode(..., INPUT_PULLUP) → configured all buttons as inputs with pull-up resistors.

    • randomSeed(analogRead(A0)) → initialized the random number generator.

  • Used Adafruit_ST7789 library functions:

    • tft.init(135, 240) → initialized the display with 135x240 resolution.

    • tft.setRotation(3) → set display orientation.

    • tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK) → cleared the screen with black color.

    • tft.setTextWrap(false) → disabled text wrapping.

  • Finally called showStartScreen() → (custom function to display the start message).
    
    

• • Game score variable:
    
    int correctAnswers = 0;

  •  Keeps track of how many correct answers the player gets.

  • Game rounds:
    
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { ... }

  •  The game runs for 10 rounds.

  • Random word & color:
    
    int wordIndex = random(4);

  • int inkColorIndex = random(4);

    • wordIndex → which word to display ("RED", "GREEN", etc.).

    • inkColorIndex → what color the word will be drawn in.

    • (This creates the Stroop effect: text and color may not match).

  • Display the word:
    
    tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);

  • showCenteredText(colors[wordIndex], colorValues[inkColorIndex], 3);

  •  Clears the screen and shows the word in the chosen ink color, using Adafruit_GFX functions through showCenteredText.

  • Wait for player input:
    
    int userAnswer = -1;

  • while (userAnswer == -1) {

  •   for (int j = 0; j < 4; j++) {

  •     if (digitalRead(buttons[j]) == LOW) {

  •       userAnswer = j;

  •     }

  •   }

  • }

    • Loops until the player presses one of the 4 color buttons.
      
      

    • digitalRead() comes from the Arduino core library.
      
      

  • Check correctness:
    
    if (userAnswer == inkColorIndex) {

  •   showCenteredText("Correct!", ST77XX_GREEN, 2);

  •   correctAnswers++;

  • } else {

  •   showCenteredText("Wrong", ST77XX_RED, 2);

  • }

  • delay(1000);

    • If the chosen button matches the ink color → show "Correct!" in green and increase score.

    • Else → show "Wrong" in red.

    • Wait 1 second before moving to the next round.

👉 Libraries used here:

• Arduino core: random(), digitalRead(), delay().
  
  

• Adafruit_ST7789 + Adafruit_GFX: fillScreen(), text drawing through showCenteredText().
  
  

End of game (inside loop())

• tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);

• showCenteredText("GAME OVER", ST77XX_WHITE, 2);

• delay(1500);

• Clears the screen.

• Displays "GAME OVER" in the center.

• Waits 1.5 seconds.

• char scoreBuffer[40];

• sprintf(scoreBuffer, "Score: %d / 100", correctAnswers * 10);

• showCenteredText(scoreBuffer, ST77XX_YELLOW, 2);

• delay(3000);

• Creates a string (scoreBuffer) that shows the player’s score out of 100.

• Uses sprintf (from the C standard library) to format text.

• Displays the score in yellow for 3 seconds.

• showStartScreen();

• After showing the score, the game returns to the start screen so the player can restart.

Start screen function

• tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);

• showCenteredText("PRESS TO START", ST77XX_WHITE, 2);

• Clears the screen and shows "PRESS TO START" in the center.
  
  

• while (digitalRead(BTN_START) == HIGH) {

•   delay(10);

• }

• Waits until the Start button is pressed (button pin goes LOW).

• tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);

• showCenteredText("Stroop Test", ST77XX_WHITE, 3);

• delay(1500);

• After pressing start: clears the screen.

• Shows "Stroop Test" title for 1.5 seconds before the game begins.

 Libraries used in this part:

• Arduino core: digitalRead(), delay().

• Adafruit_ST7789 + Adafruit_GFX: fillScreen(), text drawing via showCenteredText().

• C stdlib: sprintf() for formatting score text.
  
  

showCenteredText() function

• • void showCenteredText(const char* text, uint16_t color, uint8_t size) {

• Takes three parameters:

  • text → the string to display.

  • color → text color (from ST77XX color constants).

  • size → text size multiplier.

• • tft.setTextSize(size);

  • tft.setTextColor(color, ST77XX_BLACK);

• Sets text size.

• Sets text color with black background.

• • int16_t x1, y1;

  • uint16_t w, h;

  • tft.getTextBounds((char*)text, 0, 0, &x1, &y1, &w, &h);

• Uses Adafruit_GFX function getTextBounds() to calculate:

  • w and h → width and height of the text in pixels.

  • x1, y1 → coordinates of the bounding box (not really needed here).

• • int16_t x = (tft.width()  - w) / 2;

  • int16_t y = (tft.height() - h) / 2;

• Calculates the position so the text is centered:

  • Horizontal center = screen width − text width / 2.

  • Vertical center = screen height − text height / 2.

• • tft.setCursor(x, y);

  • tft.print(text);

• Moves the cursor to the calculated position.

• Prints the text in the center.
  
  

If I had more time, I would have 3D-printed the word “Stroop Game” as letters, and I would have made the game with multiple levels — each one harder than the previous — with a set timer for added challenge.