Introduction: LittleBits Arduino at Heart Name That Tune Guessing Game

About: We've been active for over a year, and we've made a ton of stuff. Thanks to Instructables for being an awesome source of project ideas!

This Instructable is for a rhythm-only tune guessing game. You can do a similar game using actual tones if you have a speaker, but we don't! The only noise-making bit we have right now is a buzzer, so we used that instead. It makes it more challenging! :)

The project uses several littleBits, including the new-ish Arduino at Heart module. It was based on the if statement Arduino example (included in the Arduino environment download).

Step 1: First, Build Your Circuit!

You will need the following bits:

  • power (p1), plus the battery cord and battery
  • slide dimmer (i5)
  • Arduino at Heart (w6 arduino), plus the USB cord that comes with it
  • fork (w7) - this can be skipped if you would like your game to be buzzer-only or LED-only
  • buzzer (06)
  • rgb LED (03) - optional
  • additional slide dimmer for optional volume control - you probably want to use this, as the buzzer gets VERY annoying very quickly. :PP

Hook up your bits in the manner shown. I have the first slide dimmer connected to a0 and the fork connected to d5, but there are probably different ways you can set up this circuit (if you change it, you will need to modify the Arduino file).

Step 2: Next, Hook Your Arduino Module Up to Your Computer

This is assuming that you have the Arduino environment downloaded to your computer. Make sure you select Arduino Leonardo as the board, and select the correct port. You may need to download some additional drivers depending on how your computer is set up. I won't repeat all the things that can go wrong here - there are really great troubleshooting resources available at Arduino Troubleshooting and at littleBits.

Upload the file for the Name That Tune game to your board:

Step 3: That's It!

As you move the dimmer from the lowest end to the middle to the highest end, you notice that your game will buzz one of 3 different familiar (at least to North Americans) tunes. You can change the rhythms by changing the different codes for each. If you have a littleBits speaker, you can even replace that code with tune info.

You could probably add additional thresholds if you would like to add more tunes/rhythms to your game. We are Arduino beginners at CiceroDIY so we've only figured out the code for 3 options so far. :) Theoretically you could attach a different tune/rhythm to every point on the potentiometer from 0-1023 (see Arduino - Potentiometer for more info).