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Hex Game 03: Hex Game Review - Advice from Avid Technology -- Episode 327

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element14's The Ben Heck Show

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James Ray, the engineering department manager at AVID Technologies, joins Ben to discuss the Hex Game Prototype the team has been working on. AVID Technologies is a design services company that takes concepts into full production, utilizing sister companies throughout Avnet.

 

 

James Ray gives his initial observations of the Hex Game.  The switches give it a nice tactile feel, the buzzer gives good feedback, and the simple design looks really good.  It was also fun to play with.  His suggestions include improvement on the ergonomic design, so that it feels better in your hands.  He also suggests adding radio communication so it can link up to up to your cell phone for added game play options.  This would have minimal impact on the certification as long as you pick a certified radio and didn’t adjust anything in the RF path.

If you were to follow his suggestion, you could add a radio addition using a BBC:microbit, for example.  That would give you more flexibility and additional game modes.  Making the board a carrier for the BBC:Microbit could improve marketability and expand the target audience.    They’ll need to contemplate the tradeoffs between incorporating a radio module into their design versus making it a carrier for the Microbit.  They also need to settle on function.  Is it part of a kit for kids to put together or could it be incorporated in tech classes to practice soldering, learn hex or binary, and programming.

Following up on James Ray’s advice, they prototype a BBC:Microbit module. James recommends using something that is already made to plug into their hex game. He goes over considerations for placement of the antenna. Any metal in proximity to the antenna will detune the antenna and make it resonate less optimally. Anything that has capacitance, including mounting screws, will introduce a shift in the resonant frequency.  Felix locates the datasheet for the card edge connector, which Ben uses to find the dimensions, and goes to work designing a 3D model to see how it might fit into their kit. Ben and James go over the pros and cons of incorporating the BBC: Microbit.  The pros are that it’s well-documented, fairly powerful, it’s certified wireless, it’s got a lot of software, there’s name recognition, an LED matrix, and switches.  A big con would be the form factor.  They’re trying to find an orientation for placement but are running into trouble because the coplanar version of connector is through-hole.  There is a surface mount vertical version but they don’t want it to be vertical. The microbit solves a lot of problems but it creates physical layout problems.

Disclaimer

  • Are there any plans for this kit to come out, or the code for it for those who want to find their own parts? I really liked the hex game and wouldn't mind having my own, even if I have to make it myself from scratch, considering I have never made anything from scratch before.

  • I made a Ben Hex Clone.

    image

    (I thought "Binary Game" was more appropriate as that's whats being manipulated in each mode. Also there's already a board game called "Hex Game")

    Runs on a 3.3v Arduino pro mini.  The 4 digit 7 segment display is driven by a ht16k33 chip.  All buttons and leds have their own inputs/outputs to the Arduino. Powered by a single 18650 lipo battery with a micro usb charging board. Case is FDM 3d printed.

    image

     

    There are currently 5 modes:

    1. Binary free/infinite mode. (same as Ben's)

    2. Binary game mode. (same as Ben's, except it and starts off with a linearly increasing random number, a decreasing amount of time to answer and has a ticking piezo count down that gets faster and faster, also it flashes the correct answer leds after you time out)

    3. Hex free/infinite mode. (same as Ben's, I think I'll make this mode get harder by decreasing the time to answer as its pretty easy after learning A through F)

    4. Hex game mode. (same as Ben's, same as 2)

    5. Counting game mode. (this mode starts a timer after entering 1 and makes you count up to 255 before stopping the timer and displaying your time. lower is better. I was able to get down to 70 seconds)

     

    Hodling Select down when turning on turns off the piezo buzzer, and hodling Select and Start when turning on resets all the high scores.

     

    Raw parts minus the 3d printed plastic, paint and sticker cost about $16.

    Super addictive.  I'd buy a legit kit.

     

    Video shows it in action.  Hard to hear the piezo speaker and the colors are pretty washed out but it gets the point across.

     

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Perhaps interesting to look at some of the page viewing figures compared to the number joining in the discussion.

     

    At the time of writing:

    ShowElement14YouTube11,90621,88021,91819,349386113,083giveaway47,61311,587

     

    I think the standalone Hex Game as it is works well enough to market however that might be a rather specialist market.

     

    Even if available as a ready-built educational toy, then on its own it would probably hold interest for a relatively short space of time for the majority of people.

     

    For those really interested in wanting to improve on their hex skills (which was part of the motivation for Ben to build it) and self-disciplined enough, then I think it will hold interest (up until the point where they have become fluent at least image).

     

    For it to be educational then I think perhaps it has to be bundled with some sort of didactic material which refers to the game to try various things out, with the free play mode available on top.

     

    To incorporate it into a school curriculum for teaching hex, then perhaps it becomes too specific a device. This is where using it as a more generic controller to the likes of a BBC micro:bit might work better as alternative programs can be developed and loaded to follow along with the teaching syllabus and altered as it changes.

     

    As an electronics club kit then it looks like it gives a good bit of soldering practice and then ends up with something functional at the end of it. However, in comparison, I recall back around 1981, local colleges were offering night classes where you learned to solder by building a Sinclair ZX81 microcomputer kit (circa £50 which included a printed user manual/programming reference) and then once built, then went on to learn to program it.

     

    If going down the add-ons route then I suspect you need some interesting add-ons available before you attempt to go to market ("it's a hex game but you can expand it with these available add-ons..."). Another thing to consider is what impact the add-ons will have on the power consumption if connecting wirelessly an running on battery.

  • I definitely think that this product can stand on its own without the need for IoT. I would purchase this for 20+ dollars in a heartbeat. Not only am I interested in training my brain to learn hex, but also learning to solder better.

    While I agree that there are benefits to linking up with Microbit, with name recognition, community and wireless access, I think that the problems that it creates with the layout are too costly and more importantly the community of people that would buy this product are not geared towards IoT as it stands. I vote stand alone. Regardless, I love the show, thank you so much for putting out quality content that really gets me excited about electronics and engineering!

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Hi Dave,

     

    The development environment for the PSOC is well supported and relatively easy to use.

     

    The big advantage over the microbit is a more robust voltage interface, programmable pin termination plus the programmable digital and analog hardware blogs for custom circuits.  All for about 4 USD.

     

    So if you want great hardware and software flexibility, I would go PSOC.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    If going down the controller route, then may want to take a look at this game controller product which is about ready to make it to market:

    https://www.kitronik.co.uk/5626-game-zip-64-for-the-bbc-microbit.html

  • in reply to DAB

    What's the education sectors adoption/support like for PSOC ?

     

    Perhaps one advantage of the micro:bit is that it is already out there in the education sector and there is a growing amount of curriculum support materials based around it. It may not have the inputs of the PSOC but it may be easier to launch an educational kit like this into an already established market.

     

    I suspect that a lot of educational hardware kits struggle to keep student interest on their own if there are no easily accessible student 'workbooks' to continue the learning process.

     

    This project has perhaps reached a fork in the road. Is it what it started out to be - a stand alone hex trainer game/electronics kit, or is it perhaps going to be a more generic user interface to an established educational infrastructure.

  • When the idea of having it connect to your phone was proposed, I too groaned.

    I hate the idea that everything must have phone connectivity.

    image

    It sounds like a "Millennial Problem" than an actual one.

     

    There is a virtue in having a kit product that you you build and control by manipulating physical inputs.

    It actually reminded me of the Altair Computer to begin with due to its I/O interface.

    Blinky, Blanky, and Clyde

    I highly doubt that online leader boards is a deal breaking priority for the protential buyer of this product.

     

    The Hex Game, is more akin to the the old VFD Display games by Tandy.

    The games were simple Space Invader Clones, but they were fast, fun, and grabbed your attention.

    Tandy Handy

    The Hex Game was designed to have a very similar feel; in my opinion.

    Its something you can pick up and play at any time for fun or use as a learning tool.

     

    Yet, if we must have some connectivity, why not just a USB-C connector?

    We survived 15 years of Gameboys with link cables.

    Gotta Catch Em All

    With USB-C you could include a head-to-head mode.

    And, if you must, it can connect it to your Phone for L e a d e r - b o a r d s . . .

     

    Finally, with the inclusion of a USB connection, you can still connect it to your PC.

    This will allow you to use it as a game controller or a number/code input device.

     

    (Look Ma! I can input mass amounts of vector coordinates with a ten key!)

  • Nice discussions on the issues involved with taking a prototype to a production environment.

     

    I think I would go with a PSOC instead of the Microbit.  You would get much more capability for inputs (capacitive sense) and outputs.

    You would get a lot more growth capability and upgrade options.

     

    DAB

  • Just wondering if the intention here is a move to replace the ATtiny with the BBC micro:bit so that the Hex Game becomes an add-on controller for the micro:bit, or whether the Hex Game would be standalone, with the micro:bit is an expansion option ?