Introduction: Steel Ball Run Maze With Illusions

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If you clicked on this Instructable thinking this is a Jojo reference, then you are absolutely right. But it actually does not have anything to do with the anime. This is my final project for my Physical Computing class at Boston College. I made a maze ball game controlled by Circuit Playground Bluefruit's accelerometer. The maze design was made entirely by my own imagination. I made this maze taking inspiration from when I went to the Museum of Illusions and entered the mirror maze room (picture attached above for those of you that may not know what I am talking about). This illusion was the basis of my project, to make a maze that is trippy, fun, and hard to complete. In order to achieve that, I used reflective and clear acrylic to create a mirror-like maze, and I used a somewhat dysfunctional servo to create an illusion of an earthquake in the maze so that it is harder to escape the dooms of the illusion.

Supplies

Supplies:

  1. Reflective Acrylic 1/8th in
  2. Clear Acrylic 1/8th in
  3. Blue Acrylic 1/8th in
  4. Circuit Playground Bluefruit
  5. Data Cable
  6. Alligator Clips
  7. Pin to Pin connectors
  8. Electrical Tape
  9. Hot Glue Gun and Glue
  10. Two Servo motors
  11. Steel Ball (for the Steel Ball Run)
  12. M3 bolts and nuts
  13. Blue PLA

Resources:

  1. Laser Cutter
  2. 3D Printer
  3. TinkerCad
  4. Adobe Illustrator

Step 1: Creating the Maze

I modeled my maze ball game to be similar to those found in stores. I researched and found this to be the best representation, so I used a very similar schematic diagram for attaching the supports in order to make the maze move on its x and y-axis.

Adobe Illustrator:

  1. Create an 8x8 in square and set the color as red (FF0000) and the stroke as 0.01 mm. This will serve as the base
  2. Create a bunch of walls, which will all have a height of 1 in, but will vary in length, ranging from 1 to 4 in.
  3. Download the file as .ai

Assembly:

  1. Laser Cut the base with the reflective acrylic 1/8th in
  2. Laser Cut the walls with the clear acrylic 1/8th in
  3. Create the design for the maze, I used my own imagination to make a suitable design
  4. I also created a hole near the end to make it harder to complete the maze, symbolizing the difficulty and trippyness of the Museum of Illusions
  5. Hot glue the walls onto the reflective acrylic base.

Attachments

Step 2: Create the Frames and Base

Adobe Illustrator:

  1. Create the frames to be bigger than the base, so that you can place them around the maze
  2. This will be the frame for the x-axis
  3. Create a rectangle for the servo to fit in, and create holes in the center on the rest of the sides for the size of the M3 bolts
  4. Create a frame for the y-axis, which will be the support for the whole maze. Do the same and have a rectangle for the servo to fit in. You can view the .ai file that is attached to see specific dimensions.
  5. Create a base for the whole structure to stand on, and you may add support if you wish to do so. I did not as I was trying to save materials.
  6. Place all of them as red (FF0000) and the stroke as 0.01 mm

Assembly:

  1. Laser cut the frames, support frames, and base of the structure with blue acrylic. The blue color is used to hide the servo since that is blue too.
  2. First, hot glue the frame separately, with the servo side being opposite to a side with a hole for the screw
  3. Next, place the frame around the maze, and put the M3 bolt and nut through the holes
  4. Finally, we hot glue the servo into the hole we made for it, and hot glue the head of the servo onto the walls of the maze.
  5. This will allow us to control the x-axis of the maze
  6. Now, place the outside frames on the base we created for the structure, and hot glue them a distance apart from the size of the maze itself.
  7. Next, use the bolts and nuts to support the maze with the outside frames. Then, you can hot glue the head of the servo to the frame of the maze and hot glue.
  8. Viola, this is


Attachments

Step 3: 3D Printed CPB Holder

Tinkercad:

  1. Create a cylindrical holder with a hole (around 1 inch) for the wires to come out from
  2. Make the diameter around 5 in
  3. Make the thickness around 1/4 in
  4. You can create a lid if you feel like it
  5. Make the file into an SVG file
  6. Choose a PLA that fits the theme. I used blue to match the dark blue acrylic.
  7. Finally, 3D print the SVG file to make the Holder

Assembly:

  1. Tape the wires all together to make it more compact
  2. Hot glue the CPB to the holder to make it stationary


Attachments

Step 4: Code and Electronics

Mu:

  1. On CircuitPython, create a program that will use the accelerometer and map those inputs to the outputs of the servo. I customized the angles to best serve my own servos and make it harder to complete the maze, but you may choose whatever you please
  2. Use the simpleio library to use the mapping function. I learned this function from outside my class, so there might be better mapping functions, but this works pretty well for me

Assembly:

  1. Place the servos' signals to A2 and A3. Place the power wire to VOUT and place the grounds on GND
  2. Tape all the wires on the CPB to secure them in place
  3. And finally, enjoy this awesome maze ball game that mimics walking into a mirror maze and having a hard time coming out off

Attachments