Embedded Files
JANS is my First-Year Cornerstone 2 engineering project in which I was paired up with 3 other classmates and we were tasked with creating a fun carnival game for kids which will be put in the Boston Children's' Museum.
For our game, we decided to take ideas from the famous Whac-A-Mole arcade game. The project consists of a box, which includes several buttons of different colors that light up. This is done through the code and the wiring of the pico kit. These buttons, as seen in Figure 1, are different colors and light up randomly. The objective of the game is to press the buttons that light up in order to collect points. One point is given for every button that is pressed before the time ends. The time delay between one button and the next can be adjusted, which we plan on doing based on the players’ ages. There are two different teams, team 1 and team 2. These teams will compete against each other at the same time. Again, the player with the most pressed buttons in thirty seconds will win the game.
Figure 1: Top View of Physical Hi-Fi Prototype
Figure 1 showcases our groups’ Hi-Fi prototype after all the changes made since the Lo-Fi one. Museum visitors will initially see a game with various LED lights and various cartoon characters. This will be our main source of attraction for the museum visitors. Furthermore, the player(s) will be provided with a visual demonstration from us before they begin. In addition, we plan on giving out pamphlets of how our game works while potential players wait in line.
The kids will know if they’re playing correctly as we will provide instructions throughout the process and provide feedback accordingly as they begin playing. We’ll give each visitor a manual, so they know what our game will include. Once they’re at the front of the line then we’ll provide verbal instructions and a demonstration.
Between the Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi prototype, the coding was also completed. For the Lo-Fi prototype, we were only able to code for 2 buttons per team, but now the code allows for all the required buttons to light up and dim within time intervals. Below is a small chunk of the code to showcase the coding aspect of our prototype:
Major skills we have gained through building this game are planning, designing, coding, soldering, and laser cutting. We used laser cutting as the box is made up of wooden pieces, so these pieces were drawn on AutoCad and laser cut, and soldering was used to attach the metal wires to the buttons.
Figure 2: Laser cutting
Figure 3: Soldering
Taking into account that this game is going to be played by children, the stakes were higher once we began testing it and finalizing. My last semester project, the Rube Goldberg Machine, was only tested by myself and my peers, and not unfamiliar users, so this is what I feel taught me the most.
To ensure the safety and entertainment of the children, we had to make sure all of this projects' features were tested properly and done in consideration to our user. For that reason, we made the game easier, made the box short so the player can reach it, and lastly made the duration of the game slightly shorter than we wanted so that the kids don't get bored.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse