Magic 8 Ball

This Instructable was created in fulfillment of the project requirement of the Makecourse at the University of South Florida (www.makecourse.com).

Hello and welcome to my MakeCourse project. For my final project I chose to recreate an electronic “magic 8 ball.” This classic toy has been around since the 1950s (Wikipedia). To make my project I used 3-D printed parts and an Arduino controller. In this instructable, I will be showing how to reproduce my project, highlight the components I used, and will go through the Arduino sketch.

Step 1: Printing Your Parts

The first step is to print your parts. I have included several file types depending on what you prefer. Included file types are .stl .thing and .x3g

You will want to print the bottom of the eightball first to check and see if your lcd screen will fit into the hole. My recommendation is to start a print and then stop it after it has printed about 3/8" (10mm) and check to see if the opening fits your LCD screen. The finished opening on my part is 2.815" x 0.939" (71.6mm x 23.9mm). I printed my parts using a Makerbot Replicator 2 and it slightly over extrudes. I have also included the Autodesk Inventor files if you need to make any changes.

Step 2: Circuit Diagram

Above is the Fritzing diagram that I used to wire my LCD screen to my Arduino. Your schematic might be different if you have a different LCD screen

Step 3: Download Sketch to Arduino

Above is my final version of my program. I am new to Arduino and I am sure there are better ways to write the code. Feel free to modify or share the sketch. In the video, I talk about some of the reasons why I wrote the code the way I did.

Step 4: Installing the Hardware

There are many ways to fit everything inside the 8 ball. There is plenty of room so do what ever you think will work best. The main thing is that everything is secure. I used several pieces of small wood to make attachment points for the Arduino and the bread board. I used a large piece of wood but what I found worked the best were little bamboo skewers that were easy to cut and then build up layers if you needed more strength.

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Once the board is mounted inside, you are ready to close up your sphere. Carefully mask off the LCD screen before you paint. I painted each half with black spray paint, while resting on top of a quart yogurt container. Once the paint was dry, I colored in the embossed 8 with a silver paint pen. You could also use white out if you don't have a paint pen. I put the halves together and neatly wrapped the joint with black electrical tape.

Now you are done. Have fun amazing your friends with your Magic 8 Ball.