Introduction: Arduino Quiz Buzzer
Hey there! This is my first Instructable. The Quiz buzzer plans kicked off when my colleague, who also hosts a game show asked for people who could build a Quiz Buzzer. I took upon this project and with the help of few friends (Blaze and Errol) and Arduino i was able to accomplish this. Currently, this buzzer supports 2 players but can be easily extended to upto 9 Players by modifying the code and adding more Pushbuttons. It cost me about INR 1500 ($21) and with all the details, parts and plans i took about 3 hours to get it done.
Step 1: Gather All the Materials
You will need
* 1 X Arduino Uno
* 1 X RED LED Matrix Display with MAX 7219 Driver
* 3 X 220 Ohm Resistors
* 1 X Perf Board
* 3 X Spring Push Speaker Terminal
* 3 X Push Button
* 15 meter twisted wire
* Project Box
* 10 X M3 Mounting Screw and Nuts
Step 2: The Circuit
Solder the Resistors and Wires on the Perf Board according to the schematic. Also, solder wires to the LED Matrix .
Attachments
Step 3: Make the Handheld Pushbutton
Here I'm going to use a 7" length of PVC Pipe with two end caps on either side. A hole is drilled into one of the endcaps to secure the pushbutton. Additionally hot glue is used after soldering the wires to secure the contacts. On the other endcap a hole is drilled to pass the 5 meter long wire, i made a knot so that the contacts don't come off when the wires are pulled. The end of the wired are stripped off the insulation and coated with lead solder.
Step 4: Upload the Code
Connect the Arduino Uno to the computer and upload the code.
Attachments
Step 5: Prepare the Project Box
I bought an empty Battery Eliminator Box and spray painted it black. Drilled holes to attach the speaker terminals and two vertical slits to attach the LED matrix display. The front portion has one speaker terminal terminal which will be used to reset the buzzer and the back contains two terminals for the contestants
Step 6: Assemble the LED Matrix
Separate the LED Matrix from the driver board, now use the two vertical slits on the project box (shown in the previous step) to pass the driver board from the inside and lock the LED matrix into place.
Step 7: Final Assembly
Attach the Arduino Uno and the Perfboard to the project box using Nuts and bolts.Solder the wires to the Speaker terminals and secure all connections with hot glue.
Step 8: Testing
Use a 5V adapter to power the device, i modified an old cellphone charger for this project. Connect the Handheld Pushbutton to the Quiz Buzzer and test the Reset and Player buttons. And we are done!!