The idea for this project came from an idea I had to both test people's reaction time while also creating a game out of the competition.

What came from this idea is pictured here. A small device that uses two large paddles and involves two players. Once both players press on the paddles, the device will randomly turn on its LEDs. Once this happens, which ever player releases their paddle first (hence has the faster reaction time) will win the game.

The game accounts for possible cheating or accidental mistakes. As a hidden secret, the device also houses a NRF24L01+ radio module that allows a player to secretly set the game to allow only Player 1 or Player 2 win no matter what.

To create the project, I designed and manufactured the housing and PCB as well as wrote all code for the device.

The housing for the reaction time game is completely 3D printed.

To hold the housing together, heat set inserts were assembled into the housing and M2 hardware pulls everything together.

The paddles hinge on axles made from straightened paperclips and the electronics have per-defined locations to which they are screwed or glued in.

The goal of the housing was to create something that was cheap and easy to produce while also being able to withstand the harsh abuse of players slamming the game during use. With all the testing conducted so far, there has been no damage and the paddles continue to provide good feedback to the players.

The game logic is implemented using a state machine and interrupts to ensure the button releases are captured by the micro-controller.

During development, the biggest challenge was working around all the possible ways a player could cheat or accidentally win the game. Currently, the device can detect ties, early releases, players who 'unreadies' before the game begins, and extra presses that do not align with the game play.

After completing extensive test games, there has not been an event that the device could not properly identify. If, in the future, there is a newly discovered way to cheat the game, the appropriate fix can be made and the device updated.