Inspiration
We are a group of ambitious first-year students spanning Computer Science, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, and Computer Engineering. We wanted to make use of the spare microcontrollers and hardware we hadn't fully utilised outside of our courses. With the hackathon theme being "Unconventional Connection", we combined our unique cross-disciplinary skills into a Rube Goldberg machine — because nothing says unconventional like solving a simple task in the most unnecessarily complex way possible. It reminded us of those satisfying marble run videos where an elaborate chain of events leads to one gloriously simple outcome.
What it does
Pressing a bell triggers a signal sent serially across two microcontrollers, which play a suspenseful sound and light up LEDs. This activates a PC fan that rolls a paper ball away from the gap between two sensors. Once unobstructed, the electric field between the sensors triggers another microcontroller, which sends a message via a Discord chatbot. A separate laptop running a Twitch livestream receives that message and changes a specific colour in the stream. When the colour change is detected, a final LED turns on — completing the chain.
How we built it
We split the work across the team based on our disciplines. The hardware chain — sensors, fans, LEDs, and microcontrollers (4 rasberry pis — was handled by our EEE and Computer Engineering members using serial communication and GPIO. The software side — Discord bots, Twitch colour detection, and the communication layer — was built by our Computer Science members in Python and C using the Concord Discord library. Everything was integrated and tested iteratively throughout the 24 hours.
Challenges we ran into
Originally we planned an additional chain of events where the sender Discord bot would pass a message to a Raspberry Pi Pico, which would then be handled by TempleOS to trigger a colour change in the livestream. Unfortunately we couldn't get the TempleOS integration working in time, as Temple OS doesn't exactly work effectively with serial connections. We cut our losses and routed that part differently.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud that the full chain actually works end-to-end. Getting hardware and software built by different people, across different disciplines, to talk to each other reliably in 24 hours is no small feat. We're also proud of how far we pushed the absurdity — the fact that turning on one LED involves two Discord bots, a Twitch stream, three microcontrollers, a fan, and a paper ball still makes us laugh.
What we learned
We picked up practical skills in serial communication, GPIO control, Discord bot development, and real-time video colour detection — things that directly complement our university courses. More importantly, we learned that the best way to cement knowledge is to build something with it. This hackathon has already been a hugely worthwhile experience, and we're leaving with both new technical skills and a deep appreciation for unnecessarily complicated machines.
What's next for RGB LED (The RGB stands for Rube GoldBerg)
We'd love to extend the chain further — potentially adding TempleOS back in as originally planned, incorporating wireless communication between the microcontrollers, and making the whole machine more robust and repeatable. We'd also love to make it bigger. Much bigger.
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