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  • Author Author: makerkaren
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Logic Gate BG: Ideas List

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Logic Gate Game Build
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I want to gather all the ideas you all post for the build. If I missed something, let me know in the comments.

You guys are great. Keep the ideas coming!

 

Overall Design restrictions:

Parts Needed: (so far)

  • Connectors - wires with a solid connector on each end, connectors on the board that the wires easily attach to that can be easily interfaced with a circuitboard (preferably with little to no hand soldering required)
  • Display - Need a way to indicate difficulty level, cycle (3-4 total per puzzle), score, and possibly the gate puzzles themselves.
  • Indicators - LEDs or something else to show given signal, user generated signal, and desired result.

Other Design Factors

  • Target audience: Age 7+. Need to factor in the dexterity and strength of children.
  • COST: We are aiming for the sale cost of the game to be $100-150. This means that all parts should come to a cost of under about $30.
  • Overall size - Ben wants it to be portable. All components have to fit in a small encasement that can easily be held in the hand while playing.
  • This is going to be a manufactured product, so all components need to be easily sourced, not scrapped from old products.
  • Needs to have a physical interface, because otherwise it's just a video game/app.

CONNECTORS

Design restrictions:

     Inexpensive, $0.05 or less each.

     Not labor intensive to assemble or no assembly required.

    Ideal price: <$0.10 each

Ideas

  • Magnetic purse clasps
  • Stackable
  • Revisit using banana plugs
  • Have them gendered to designate inputs vs outputs ()
  • Fiber optics w/ RGB LEDs & photodiodes.
  • Y cables in place of bus bars

 

DISPLAY

Design restrictions:

    We'd like to drive it with a PIC32 using LCC (Low Cost Controllerless) method.

          Use DMA to send data to PMP and drive the clocks with interrupts. (Other suggestions welcome.)

     Approximate resolution: 480x272

     Larger than 4", preferably 6".

     Does NOT need to be touchscreen - PROBABLY GOING TO USE TOUCH means we need fewer real buttons

     Does NOT need to be color.

     Ideal price: ~$10>

Optional: Versatility. Using a screen rather than a static graphic to represent the logic gates allows for more options and possibly requires fewer connections on the game surface.

 

Progress:

  • Using a PIC32MZ Starter Kit Dev board, interface adapter, ancient Microchip breakout board, and a PICTail board with a LCD soldered to it.
  • MPLAB X v3.55 using Harmony 2.02 development platform.
  • Harmony will pre-configure code for you, including graphical systems. But the documentation is fragmented and dense, so getting it up and going takes awhile.
  • We've found a very common 480x272 LCD that has a touchscreen variant. The PIC32MZ2048EFM has enough RAM to display 16 bit color images on it. If possible, I'd like to use 8 bit colors and use the extra space as a double buffer (so you don't see things as they're being drawn)
  • Had to tweak the code, but got it working with our custom rig.
  • Raspberry PI with a touch DSI screen ()

LCD To-Do:

  • I want to have the display sideways, portrait mode.
  • Harmony seems to have configurations for this but they don't work. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
  • Aria graphics library has a lot of functions but is probably overkill. Maybe we can abstract down a layer...
  • JPG works but looks bad / is slow loading. Would prefer to use PNG but haven't gotten them to work.
  • Images can be stored in Flash and there's probably enough to store whatever icons we need.

 

INTERFACE - CURRENT PROGRESS

Design restrictions:

     Used by children with limited dexterity and finger strength. 

     Will need many wires and game board connectors.

Ideas

  • Have a breadboard-like interface with logic gate "pieces" that can be placed to solve a puzzle.

 

Other Design Considerations/Suggestions

  • Connectors with electrical current flowing them being a safety hazard ()
    • Give Felix speech bubbles.
  • Voice/sound not required to play ( )
  • in reply to trocar

    Funny you say that. I found this neat kids computer at the thrift store that uses plastic punch cards to change programs. I hadn't seen something like that before. We were even able to make the missing cards by cutting new ones on the laser cutter, so we had more games than what came with the computer.

  • What do you think about using punch cards to function as the input for the puzzles? You could also use punch cards as the gates. This would keep your cost down and you could release expansion pack puzzle decks. You could use photoresistors to read the cards.  The resistors are less than twenty cents a piece so this would keep your costs very low.

  • Hey  guys!
    I think rather than using magnets to connect you guys should consider titch buttons like they use in Elenco Snap Circuits. It's easy to use and durable and stackable and I'm sure if you use a higher gauge wire you'd be well better off!

     

     

    Keep up the good work image

    Notice the vertical stacking

  • in reply to DAB

    I like this idea as a way of teaching Boolean algebra, namely that any complicated gate can be described/implemented as a sum of products (OR of ANDs) and Boolean algebra can be used to convert between forms/implementations. Back in the day they used to refer to them as PLAs or PALs (slightly different but both the great grandparents of FPGAs)

  • in reply to makerkaren

    Go search for Programmable Logic Devices.

    They permitted the user to select the inputs and outputs of fixed set of logic gates.

     

    When programmed, you physically burned the connections based upon your logic map.

     

    I bet that Ben could do a similar connection using push pins and a conductive screen like material to make temporary connections for the circuits.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    I'm not familiar with what a PLD Matrix is. Could you explain that a bit further?

  • Hi Karen,

     

    I had a wild idea about the connections.

     

    How about a simple wire matrix that you could connect with punch pins for the circuit connection?

     

    I am thinking along the lines of a physical PLD matrix to connect inputs and outputs of the logic gates.

     

    I am sure Ben could figure out a simple design and possible 3D printer setup with a peg board like structure.

     

    Just thinking.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to fisher0251

    Thanks for the input. That's really helpful!

  • I really like the discussion Karen and Ben are having regarding the target audience. I taught middle and high school science for 11 years before going into engineering, and also have 4 sons ages 2-13. I've seen a ton of educational type games. I definitely see this project as being best aimed at kids, both in and out of the classroom. My suggestion for the connectors is to make them stackable, similar to Snap Circuits, to make junctions possible. But the magnetic clasps would make it much easier for kids to join than mechanical snaps.

     

    Also, any voices or sounds you incorporate should not be required for gameplay. Parents and teachers don't want to hear loud sounds all the time! So the game should be playable via the display only.

     

    (My 13 year old just said that the game sounds awesome!)

  • hi,

    i think better to have two version in the box, one basic model and one pro model, but with same processing unit (interface swap-able). processing unit sandwich with interface unit , to identified which unit is connected, we can set high one IO in pro interface, be successful image