Project Overview

For our project, we intend to create a three layer Labyrinth style game. A Labyrinth game is a motion controlled game in which the player moves a ball through a maze, avoiding various holes along the way. By utilizing motion sensors to control the shift and movement of the board, the challenge becomes greater with each increasing level.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Week 8:

This week, trouble struck. But before this news comes up, positive information will be relayed. Most of the codes are functional, including the motion control for the Nunchuck, and most of the Lifebar sensor. The intent of the lifebar is to take a bar of life off each time the ball roles over a sensor back to the first level. With these functional, the problem of assembling the motion of the board has really stumped the group. The board has been weighed so that is rests evenly on the pivot point, yet the servos must be attached in a better location than they are now in order for the rotation to actually work. Once this is fixed, the project can be covered with plexiglas and tested with an audience, which can occur very shortly after lab this week. Also, the servos that were ordered have a much stronger motor within with will actually be able to move the board.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Mid Week 8:

There has been a hitch in the plan. The servos that were supposedly to be used for the project are too weak to move the board. Newer and stronger servo motors have been purchased which move vertically rather than rotationally. As soon as these arrive, more work on the physical board will ensue.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Week 7:

This week, the group worked on much of the physical board. The gluing of the board was done, which created a solid and sturdy game board with the use of biscuits. Once glued, a reset was discussed. Something simple and out of the way was needed, which wouldn't prohibit movement and would allow for the installation of a motion detector at an exit hole. The idea devised was multiple hole drilled into the support beams of the undercarriage of the board with a plywood bottom. This way, when a ball is to fall through a hole, a catcher beneath is utilized to bring the ball back onto the first level beneath the first ramp. The detector will be placed within the final hole in order to take life away from the ball if it happens tho have to go through the reset.

The next aspect to the game that was created was the pivot point. Utilizing half a plastic ball from a group in the juggling engineering lab, a round pivot cup was created. The idea devised was to gather a good bit of sand and put it within the plastic ball and create a cover to trap the sand within. This is because the ball is rather fragile, as it tends to crack easily. By filling the ball to the brim with sand, it helps counteract the constant inward pressure due to the weight of the board. Next, the actual pivot point was created. A simple wooden box was created and lined with packaging tape and then filled with sand. The reason for this is simple: the plastic ball rotates very easily with the soft mound of sand around it, and once within the box, the box becomes very heavy. The weight is needed to keep the servo motors in place while controlling the movement of the board. Though the servos have yet to be attached, ideas have been devised, and they soon will be put through trial and error to see which will work the best, as the motion control has finally come into fruition with a working code for the Wii Nunchuck to be utilized.

The Ball used to pivot the board.
 The Box and the Ball in action.



The Nunchuck-servo code in action.


Monday, May 11, 2015

Week 6:

This week entailed more woodwork, and more coding. In class, corner joints of the labyrinth were glued together. The technique used to do this was biscuiting, which can be found in the tutorials tab. However, before the other side was glued for the opposite corner, it was discovered that there were measurement errors prohibiting the cuts to actually work with the boards if glued together. The problem was some of the pieces were too long, which would allow the actual board to fall through the base of the project. Upon revisiting member Tyler Fox's house to redo and fix the boards, the project looks better than ever. The intent for this week is to glue to boards together and finish the coding aspect of the project due to the arrival of the final materials needed for the project to work, followed by an outer casing of the board.

Side View 1 Prior to Glueing
 Top View Prior to Glueing
 Side View 2 Prior to Glueing

Monday, May 4, 2015

Week 5:

During this week, coding for the Arduino was attempted. Many hours of work had taken place with trying to get the Arduino to intake the motion of an accelerometer and translate it to the two servo motors controlling the x-axis and y-axis of the game, however none of the efforts yielded useable code for the game. However, by the end of this week, the code should be completed. Once written, the setup will be created, as most of the electronics have arrived such as the breadboard, wires, and sensor. The only problem has been the package office at one of the Drexel Housing facilities; most of the orders have arrived, dating back to last Wednesday, yet the package office has yet to go through the shipments. Also, on Sunday, members Tyler and Jesse went out and cut wood for the outer box of the board, which will hold the board together and allow for a plexiglas top to cover the game itself so that the ball within will not be allowed to be tampered with while playing.