Introduction: Arduino Leonardo Quiz Buzzer Game

About: Hallo, mein Name ist Conrad. Ich bin Fachkraft für Veranstaltungstechnik. Mein Schwerpunkt liegt in der Ton und Videotechnik. Seit neustem studiere ich Maschinenbau in Berlin, Deutschland. Ich liebe Basteleie…

So Why would you build a Buzzerquiz?

Exactly! To have fun and play with Friends!

In my case it was designed for a Birthday Party. The Guests had to guess Movie and Series titles based on the Theme song.

My Buzzer Setup will have the following features:

The First one to press the Buzzer will be constantly lighting up an LED

The second one is shown by a LED that flashes.

The System even plays a tone when hooked up to a Soundsystem or Piezospeaker.

To connect the Buzzers to the terminal I used Guitar Cables because I have plenty of them.
But Speaker Cables work fine as well

You are able to have up to five Buzzers on this. Not more, but it workes with less.

Here is an example Video

AS I FOUND OUT, THE DOCUMENTS ARE NOT VISABLE IN THE APP!!!

I had a long seach to find something like this and in the end: I didn´t find anything complete.
So i will show you everything and upload the code, so you have an easy build.

Before I will begin: I want to Thank my Friend Ricco who helped me a lot with the coding!
U DA BEST!

Step 1: You Will Need:

What do I need to build this?

  • 1. Arduino Leonardo Arduino Leonardo on Amazon
  • 2. 5x LEDs (I used defused 8mm Blue) For Example these
  • 3. 5x 470 Ohm Resistors 470 Resistors
  • 4. 5x 10k Ohm Resistors 10k Resistor
  • 5. 10x 6,3mm Mono Jacks 6,3mm or Binding Posts, depending on what cables you want to use. Alternative
  • 6. 5x Pushbuttons Pushbutton
  • 7. 5x Cases for the Buzzers I used some of these, but just because they were sold seperatly and 0,60€/ Box
  • 8. Pojectcase for the Terminal Here; I highly recommend this shop!
  • 9. On Off Switch Switch
  • 10. Micro USB Cable Amazon Basic
  • 11. Lots of Jumperwires. These are for Prototyping and for the Arduino headers. I was lasy and even soldered them in place.
  • 12. 2x PCB pieces
  • 13. Solder
  • 14. Soldering Iron
  • 15. Hot Glue
  • 16. Arduino Software Arduino Website.
  • 17. Cables to hook the Buzzers up

Depending on your Plans:

  • Computer with PPT, Keynote or any other Presentation software
  • Speaker for the "Buzzernoise"

Step 2: The Beginning

Before Starting with the Project itself, I would like to show you the basic wiring for the LEDs and Switches.

In the Arduino Software, you can find examples. Please open "Digital" and click on "Button".

This is the wiring I used to get the Job done. I just had to add the Jacks and change the code to interrputpins.

In the picture you can see the basic Wiring of the example.

Step 3: Preparing the Cases

Outline were you want everyting to be.

For me it was:

  • LEDs on the Top so everyone is able to see them.
  • Jacks right under them so it is easy to know where they lead.
  • Reset-Switch on top; easy to reach.
  • on one Side a hole to stick a Micro USB Cable inside to power the Arduino
  • either a hole to stick the speaker cables though or you make the hole for the Mico USB big enough to fit those wires through as well.
  • Do not forget to attach the Arduino th the bottom of the Case so it does not wobble around and you get bad connections.

Now let the Fun begin!

A lot of measuring and Drilling later: The terminal is ready!

Now glue in your LEDs and place everything were you want it to be.

For the Buzzers I made it quite simple.

I originally wanted to use one of those big mushroom Buzzers, but they cost more than all of the components of this build together (at least in Germany).

So I went with a small coloured box and a normal Pushbutton .

You just need to drill one hole in the top of the box and one in the box itself.

After that just wire and solder the pushbutton to the jack and it is done.

LET THE WIRING BEGIN

Step 4: Starting With the Wiring

First of all create a Powerdistribution board with a simple piece of PCB.

You have to connect all the Jacks and the Reset switch with the 5V.

Now create a board that connects your Pins to Ground with the 10k Resistor Like in the picture.

It is very important that there is no electrical contact under the Resistor. Just scratch the copper off the plate and check with a Mulimeter.

Before connecting the LEDs, solder the 470 Ohm Resistors to the Anodes(+). You can connect all the Kathodes(-) together and connect them to one GND Pin of the board.

For the Reset Switch you will need to build a cable that goes from Pin 4 to one side of the Switch, as well as to the Ground & Pin Board we created before. The other side of the Switch connects to the 5V Distributor.

I will show you a chart were everything belongs in short:

Digital Pins of the Arduino:

0 Jack 1

1 Jack 2

2 Jack 3

3 Jack 4

4 Reset switch

5 Speaker Out + ( not connected for now. Just attach a wire for later)

6 LED 1

7 Jack 5

8 LED 2

9 LED 3

10 LED 4

11 LED 5

GND Prepare Wire for the Speaker out

GND Ground & Pin Board

GND LED Kathode

5V 5V Distributor

Step 5: The Code

Just connect the Arduino to your Computer via USB and start the Arduino software.
Make sure they are connected ( For help GIYF ;) ).

You need to put the Files in a Folder and after that you can load them.

Upload them to your Arduino and try it with the Buzzers.

If you connect a little Speaker to the Wires we talked about earlier, you will be able to hear a tone, after someone pressed a buzzer.

I used a Little amp I build earlier and connected it to a 10'' speaker (Little overkill for your livingroom).

Step 6: END

By now everything should be done.

I sugest to tape the terminal to the Table it stands on. So nobody will be able to throw it on the ground by pulling on a cable. More important, the cables get pretty heavy and the box is very likely to tip over.

I hope you had fun with this build and of course playing the buzzer game.

Since this is my first instructable, I would love to hear your opinion!

As A little Bonus, you will get one of my PPTs we used for the Party.
If you have any questions concerning the PPT or the build, you can always ask me.

I´m sorry that the PPT is in German but i think for getting an idea it is pretty usefull.

Have a good day and be nice to people on the internet ;)

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