Project Requirements
The goal for this project was to design and build a Distributed Destruction Mechanism (DDM) that blends into a famous landmark and can be disarmed by two civilian heroes working collaboratively. The heroes must interact with the DDM, and each other, to disarm the DDM. The disarming process should take at least 30 seconds.
The DDM must include three distinct interactions. At least one of these interactions inputs an analog signal to the TIVA LauchPad, one requires large motion, and one uses non-contact sensing. In addition, the DDM should give feedback regarding the heroes’ actions and progress and display signs of peace and joy when the Heroes successfully disarm the DDM. The DDM must return to an armed state, with a display of fear and panic, if the Heroes fail to disarm the DDM within 60 seconds.
The DDM must include three distinct interactions. At least one of these interactions inputs an analog signal to the TIVA LauchPad, one requires large motion, and one uses non-contact sensing. In addition, the DDM should give feedback regarding the heroes’ actions and progress and display signs of peace and joy when the Heroes successfully disarm the DDM. The DDM must return to an armed state, with a display of fear and panic, if the Heroes fail to disarm the DDM within 60 seconds.
Description of Function
Our pyramid DDM features three main user interactions, which heroes use to disarm the DDM. The DDM’s armed state features terrifying mummies with red flashing eyes. Both heroes have a set of trap doors and another activity on the top of their side. One hero must be successfully doing her trap door activity for the other hero to be able to complete his top activity, making it impossible for a hero to disarm the DDM by himself, keeping the backdoor a secret from Dr. Ed. The heroes alternate between doing their trap doors and doing their top activity, receiving one point each time they complete one of the top activities. To disarm the DDM, the heroes must combine for six points before the hourglass runs out of sand.
The Maze: Hero A’s top activity, which he completes while Hero B does her trap doors, is a maze with three endpoints. When one of the endpoint LEDs starts flashing, Hero A must move the maze handle to that endpoint. When successful, the handle will vibrate, providing feedback to the hero, and a point will be awarded, with the next score light turning on.
The Snake Charmer: Hero B’s top activity requires her to charm the snake into a particular position. The hero moves her hand closer and further from the proximity sensor. This analog input is then mapped to the position of the snake. While moving the snake between targets, the hero will hear different tones to supplement the visual feedback to know exactly which position the snake is in. One of the targets will light up, and the hero must move the snake to that target and hold it there for two seconds, at which point another point will be awarded to the heroes. Both the maze and the snake charmer require large motion from the heroes.
The Trap Doors: Each hero has a set of two trap doors. The hero triggers the trap door by moving his hand in or out of the slot, breaking an IR beam that is sensed by a photo-transistor. To start the disarm sequence, Hero A slides his hands into the slots, indicated by blinking lights. The hero must then match his hand positions (in or out of the slot) to those indicated by lights above the doors. The hero has 1.5 seconds to get a match before the instructed hand positions change. Once the hero gets two consecutive matches, the other hero will receive a target on their top activity which they can pursue. However, if the hero misses two consecutive trap door instructions, that target will disappear. This requires the active involvement of two heroes for the disarm process to progress. Whenever a point is awarded, the heroes switch to their other task, so the hero who had been doing the top activity does the trap doors and vice versa.
Successful Disarming: When the heroes successfully disarm the DDM, earning six points in less than one minute, Egyptians on the side of the pyramid dance in an Egyptian style to a well-known Egyptian tune. All of the LEDs on the DDM flash in celebration. The DDM then re-arms after 30 seconds.
Running out of time: If the heroes fail to disarm the DDM within 60 seconds from starting. The DDM will re-arm, with daunting music and the return of the flashing mummy eyes.
The Maze: Hero A’s top activity, which he completes while Hero B does her trap doors, is a maze with three endpoints. When one of the endpoint LEDs starts flashing, Hero A must move the maze handle to that endpoint. When successful, the handle will vibrate, providing feedback to the hero, and a point will be awarded, with the next score light turning on.
The Snake Charmer: Hero B’s top activity requires her to charm the snake into a particular position. The hero moves her hand closer and further from the proximity sensor. This analog input is then mapped to the position of the snake. While moving the snake between targets, the hero will hear different tones to supplement the visual feedback to know exactly which position the snake is in. One of the targets will light up, and the hero must move the snake to that target and hold it there for two seconds, at which point another point will be awarded to the heroes. Both the maze and the snake charmer require large motion from the heroes.
The Trap Doors: Each hero has a set of two trap doors. The hero triggers the trap door by moving his hand in or out of the slot, breaking an IR beam that is sensed by a photo-transistor. To start the disarm sequence, Hero A slides his hands into the slots, indicated by blinking lights. The hero must then match his hand positions (in or out of the slot) to those indicated by lights above the doors. The hero has 1.5 seconds to get a match before the instructed hand positions change. Once the hero gets two consecutive matches, the other hero will receive a target on their top activity which they can pursue. However, if the hero misses two consecutive trap door instructions, that target will disappear. This requires the active involvement of two heroes for the disarm process to progress. Whenever a point is awarded, the heroes switch to their other task, so the hero who had been doing the top activity does the trap doors and vice versa.
Successful Disarming: When the heroes successfully disarm the DDM, earning six points in less than one minute, Egyptians on the side of the pyramid dance in an Egyptian style to a well-known Egyptian tune. All of the LEDs on the DDM flash in celebration. The DDM then re-arms after 30 seconds.
Running out of time: If the heroes fail to disarm the DDM within 60 seconds from starting. The DDM will re-arm, with daunting music and the return of the flashing mummy eyes.
Gems of Wisdom
- Split the tasks based on every member’s strength and background
- Each member should focus on his or her part and get that done before integrating everything together
- Make progress every day and communicate that progress with the whole team
- Have the main functionality working before adding other extra functions or decoration
- Prepare to contribute the whole weekend right before the final checkpoint to the project
- Think about the proto-broad layout (electronics) once the circuit design is done, so you'll know what you have to fit on each board.
- Test each part of the circuit before connecting it to the TIVA
- Label all the wires
- Wait until the very end to make permanent attachments
- Have extra components because they might burn out
- Write pseudo-code - it's really helpful and writing it together ensures that at least two people will know how the code is set up
- Make sure the TIVA ports you are using actually work
- Aim to be ahead on your checkpoints
- Define your user interaction in as much detail as possible before trying to design your state machines