Week 4 - Journal

Ideation

Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)

The project idea of this week is a buzz wire game, I remember when I was a kid that similar small games came with Mcdonalds happy meals and were incredibly fun and entertaining, so I thought why not make a 10x larger immobile version made out of leftover cardboards to apply what I've learned thoughout this week about electronics and have a little blast from the past.

An example of a high fidelity buzz wire game.

Tool Chain

Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?

well, I've used a generic drawing app like microsoft whiteboard to think about the circuit and how it will work, then tinker cad to make sure the circuit if funtional.

For physical materials and components I've used:

Cardboard

Thick copper wires

styrofoam

Tape

Red and green LED lamps

220 ohm resistor

Buzzer

Breadboard, jumperwires and crocodile wires

Power adaptor, Rosetta and a switch.

A sample of the materials used.

Design/Preparation Process

Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?

I started thinking about the circuit using simple sketching.

I started the circuit using a 5 volt adaptor, because the voltag accross the buzzer should be around 6 volts and the voltage across the lamps should be about 2, so to avoid causing any damage to the electronics I used such voltage.

The buzzer is connected in parallel to the red LED to give a visual and audible feedback to when the player touches the wire, a green LED is added in case the player passed the game, it gives only a visual feedback.

A 220 ohm resistor is connected in series with each LED to decrease the current flowing through it so it doesn't burn out.

I then tested the circut in Tinkercad, obviously I couldn't make the exact circuit I will be using in the project as tinkercad doesn't incule buzz wires in its components library so I tried to simulate what will happen using push buttons to indicate one of the three states the ciruit will be in and to make sure nothing will blow up during none of the 3 states.

Development/Implementation Process

Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?

I've built the designed ciruit and tested it, and connected the crocodile wires which will be attached to the copper wires of the game.

After testing the ciruit I've put in a suitable carboard box I was lucky to have laying around, I added a piece of styrofoam to fix the copper wires.

Appropriate holes were created in the enclosure for the power supply, the on off switch, and the LEDs.

The 2 copper wires are connected to the crocodile wires in the videos and have the same effect as closing the circuit to make one of the LEDs light up in addition to the audible feedback of the buzzer.

The tape indicated the end of the game and is used to sparate 2 pieces of wire leaving an air gap between them.

The LED lamps are fitted onto the box

A copper wire is shaped as a ring and connected to the green crocodile wire in the video to be held by the player.

Final product

Community of Learning

Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?

I didn't think of making a green LED lamp to indicate winning the game, it was an idea suggested to me by a friend in the diploma.

Overcoming Challenges

When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this assignment?

The buzzer has a high resistance and connot be connected in series with an LED.

At first I made the circuit like that, thinking it would be the same, however I was directed by the instructor to put the buzzer parallel to the red LED as the current going to the buzzer was very limited so its sound was weak, which was obvious when I tested the circuit physically.

Also one of the things I found hard during the project was how to conceptualize the buzzwire game in the sketch or the tinkercad circuit, then it came to me that it is just a 3 way switch, or a slider with 3 states, an off state, a state where the red LED and buzzer are activated, and a state where only the green LED is connected, so it is like 2 circuits merged into one.

How the buzz wire is conceptualized as a 3 way switch

Final Project

How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?

I have gotten familiar with many new electric components, output devices such as the LEDs, the buzzer, the DC motor, and the lamp, and other compnents such as the resistor, potentiometer, voltage regulator.

Also learning how to wire components together whilist keeping in mind the voltage drop on various components is a vital skill I've acquired thoughout the week.

Troubleshooting is also very important for my final project and having a multimeter makes troubleshooting much much easier.

WOW!

What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?

The RC car completed in the hackathon is probably the coolest thing I've done throughout a week full of cool things.

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