Choose the Light

Intro

I made this project for my school. The assignment was to make something interactive. This is part of a bachelor study on Game Design. I decided it was going to be a game, although it didn’t have to be.

In this product I will show you how I made my “Choose the Light” game with the Arduino.

Step 1: How Does It Work?

The game is pretty simple. There are two players, so 1 versus 1. Each player sits on the other side of the game box. The game is played three times so that each player has the change for a comeback. There are two buttons, one for each player, and five LEDs in the middle. Each player has a paper in front of them with the five LEDs. Each of them needs to choose one LED and draw a circle around it.

When the game is turned on each of the LEDs turn on after each other at random. They are on for a random short amount of time. When the light that one of the players has chosen is on, that player must press and hold the button in front of him. When he was on time, he scores one point.

This goes on until one player scores two points. This player wins.

Step 2: The Materials

In this step, I will describe everything you need to make this yourself.

Technology:

- 1x Arduino Uno

- 1x Green LED

- 1x Red LED

- 1x Blue LED

- 1x Orange LED

- 1x Yellow LED

- 2x Small buttons

- 18x power cable (about 30 cm long each)

- 1x solder board (about 12 x 12 cm)

Materials

- Wooden box 14 x 14 cm

- Spray Paint (Any color)

- 2x rubber buttons from tv remote

- 2x little knobs (in case the remote buttons cannot reach the buttons)

- Glue

- Some screws and nails

- This is everything I used for this project. Anything you can add is up to you. Use your imagination!

Step 3: Building Your Project

In this step, I will show you a little bit about how I made the box and the game. The sketches you see above are the only ones I made, the rest I created by changing little things.

1 Make the sketches

To really get to know the process of making something like this, don’t use mine. Just make your own. Not because I don’t want you to use mine, but because it is the best way to understand something and to build something. Make sure you know exactly where everything is going to go, because ones you to saw the wood, you can’t go back.

2 Saw the wood

Sound easy enough right? Make sure you draw it out on the wood before you start cutting the wood. My box was 14 cm (length) x 12 cm (width) x 6 cm (height). Make sure the cover of the box cannot move by adding a little extra wood on the bottom (this is also where the solder board will be attached).

3 Drill holes for the LEDs and buttons.

This is a very important step. If you already created your solder board, make sure you know exactly how much space is between your LEDs and buttons. The best way to do this is to start by making the holes and then putting the LEDs in the right spot before you solder. Also, make sure the LEDs are visible from the top and the buttons can be pressed. I used extra buttons from an old remote with some extra little knobs that fitted perfectly. You do need to find some stuff for this issue because I used what I had to fix it.

4 Create a hole for the power

Also an important step. Make sure there is a hole in the side of the box for the power of the Arduino. You can also use batteries for this inside the box, but that is something that I did not use.

5 Paint

Make sure to paint your box before adding the solder board. You can choose any color that you want. Just make sure the lights are still noticeable. I used grey for this, but you can do whatever you want.

6 Attach the solder board to the cover

For this I used special assemble glue. This glue takes 24 hours to dry but then it will be hard as a rock. Remember that you cannot change anything after this. Make sure everything works before to do this. You can also use nails, but be careful or you will break the solder board.

7 Finishing Touches

Make it your own!

Step 4: Tips

For this project, I used Arduino. To know how to make something like this, just watch a few tutorials. This way you will be able to create something unique.