Introduction: Jungle Adventure Themed Assistive Technology Game With CircuitPython Bluefruit Microcontroller

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HelpKidzLearn is a popular game service to entertain individuals with physical disabilities, as all of the games are able to be controlled with a single button press or two. "Jungle Adventure" can be found at https://hub.helpkidzlearn.com/games/info/jungle-adventure and served as the inspiration for this build.

Supplies

Electronics

  • CircuitPython Bluefruit microcontroller
  • Strip of 30 LED Lights
  • A battery pack containing three triple A batteries
  • Alligator Clips
  • 2 external buttons (auxiliary inputs)
  • External Speaker

Materials

  • Multiple colors of 1/8th inch acrylic
  • 1/8th inch birch wood

Tools and Consumables

  • Hot glue gun
  • Laser Cutter
  • Clear tape

Step 1: Coding

Our code first setup the two external buttons, external speaker, LED light strip, and mp3 player. We then created unique play mp3 functions for level win, loss, and final win so that we could play different light animations as the audio played. We used a counter variable that would track which level the player was on and trigger the winning sequence after it was greater than 6, where it would then be reset to 0. The exact process can be found in the attached python file.

Attachments

Step 2: Audio

All audio files were in mp3 format and downloaded from the internet and mixed in Audacity to ensure the audio was clear, the file size was compact, and the volume levels were relatively equal. Every audio file needed for this build is attached here.

Attachments

Step 3: Laser Cutting and Engraving

A modified version of the display case box found at https://www.festi.info/boxes.py/DisplayCase?language=en was used for the foundation of this build. Three holes were added, one 3 inch diameter hole for the speaker and then two (.25inch x .5inch) rectangle holes for the external buttons on either side of the box. The title Jungle Adventure was engraved onto the top of the box with a jungle tree. The character cutout is a 3.5inch diameter circle that was then engraved onto dark green acrylic. Then, unique colors of acrylic were cut into 2inch circles and engraved with characters from the game that represent each of the six levels. Finally, .75inch diameter circles were cut onto gold acryclic and engraved with the coin symbol to signify the end of the game.

Step 4: Assembly

The box was assembled with the appropriate pegs fitting into their respective slots (it is recommended to make holes slightly bigger than the original sizing on festi to ensure pegs fit) and hot glued together for structure. The lid was left to be removable to leave electronics accessible and to allow for batteries to be replaced and the speaker to be charged. The LED light strip was taped across the top of the inside of the box. We laser cut 7 1-inch wooden circles to place between acrylic symbols and the box that were attached with hot glue. The speaker was taped into its respective slot and the external button wires were fed through the appriate holes created in the previous step. All of the wiring was completed with alligator clips to the CPB microcontroller as directed in the code so that the external buttons, light strip, and speaker function properly.

Step 5: Play Along to Jungle Adventure!

You are now ready to play along with the Jungle Adventure game on HelpKidzLearn and can even race with someone playing on the computer to see who can get to the treasure first! Happy building, and enjoy the game!