Inspiration
Much like popular game franchises Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Rhythm based games are a lot of fun. Using the power of modern micro-controllers, we can condense the whole system down to a comfortable desktop size.
What it does
Lights appear in time with a song being played on speakers. When the lights reach a marked spot on our _ Play Tube _, the corresponding frequency is played on the speaker and a certain touch sensor expects to be pressed. Your accuracy in pressing the correct sensor at the correct time correlates to the award you receive in the form of up to 50 points per note.
How we built it
The focus of play is a _ Play Tube _ consisting of five meters of _ Adafruit Neopixel _ Light Strip wrapped around a tall cylinder. The cylinder is slightly augmented in shape to create a flatter viewing surface. The lights are controlled by an Arduino 101 controller with a Grove Base Shield with 4 Capacitive touch sensors. A PWM output pin uses a damper circuit and a 3.5mm jack equivalent to send audio frequencies straight to any set of speakers. The entire system is powered by a 5V 12A Power Supply to a wall outlet. The song is a custom 8-bit rendition of Still Alive by Jonathan Coulton, and is represented within the Arduino's program as three lists of Note Frequencies, Note Lengths, and corresponding game column respectively.
Challenges we ran into
After the majority of development being complete, an unobserved electrical circumstance caused the _ Play Tube _ to be completely unresponsive. This caused an urgent reorganization and strategizing on how to otherwise represent the same information with extra parts on hand. Luckily with some extra single LEDs and some reprogramming, we were able to show a comparison between the notes you play and the expected notes of the song. With the new LEDs being powered through the Arduino and not directly from the power supply, more current than that provided by a computer by USB connection is required. Unfortunately the Input voltage pins on our borrowed Arduino 101 are fried, yet fortunately we have several Arduino Unos available. Due to the downgrade, the entire program required more memory than an Uno contains, thus a design involving two Unos working in tandem was implemented and the functions of the program were divided evenly among the boards.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We accomplished more with the Arduino framework than any of us had done before. We implemented not only input, but output in simultaneously visual and auditory mediums to create an interactive and exciting activity with a lot of room for growth. Nothing makes you search for your own motivation more than having the entire focal point of 60 man-hours of work in the making go entirely out of commission. Despite this dizzying setback we were able to bounce back and push to create an entirely novel way of interfacing visually with the player in only a fraction of our 36 hour build.
What we learned
We learned a lot about finding innovative ways to apply physical components. With code, you can create, destroy, and change whatever you want, whereas with components, you can only apply. The possibilities are near endless, but require an innovative mind to use them in a way that accomplishes what seemed impossible with the individual parts.
What's next for A Game of Rhythm and Light
Applying Addressable LED lights has a lot of potential, and with a repaired or replaced _ Play Tube _, and additional songs, A Game of Rhythm and Light could be a cool desktop activity or DIY project for any Tech Junkie.
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