Introduction

I have a real soft spot for tech and robotics. At NID, I got to dive into an incredible module called "Mechatronics." It was there I first got to experiment with something quite special. Working with Arduino, a microcontroller, was a bit overwhelming initially. But with some top-notch guidance from my professor, Mr. Mohit Ahuja, I really got into the groove. I harnessed the power of electronics to build my first mechatronics project, which turned out to be quite feature-packed.

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Brief:

For this module, we were expected to explore the potential of Arduino from the play aspects during the first week. And later, we were supposed to submit the following deliverables:

1. A toy that uses the technology of Arduino
2. A Game Experience built around that toy.

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What I Made

• Arduino Toy / Prototype: A scary toy that's powered by Arduino.
• Game Experience: A haunted escape game where you use the toy to play/Escape.

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How I Did It - The Process

Idea: "Jigsaw" - Spooky Fun

I got my idea from the scary "Jigsaw" character in the "SAW" movies. My goal was to create something that gave off that same scary feeling.

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Design Steps

I drew lots of sketches to capture the scary look of "Jigsaw" sitting in a wheelchair. I wanted the game to be like an escape room where players are tied to a chair and have to do challenges, with "Jigsaw" giving instructions and leading them to the next dare. Someone can secretly control "Jigsaw" with a phone app.

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Building the Toy

The Wheel Chair:

1. Designing: I used Adobe Illustrator to design the wheelchair and got it ready for Laser cutting out the pieces.
2. Materials: Picked MDF wood because it's good for making prototypes.
3. Putting It Together: Made sure the wheels could spin and there was room for all the electronic parts.

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Creating "Jigsaw":

1. Face and Head: Made the head with paper mâché and painted it to look detailed and spooky.
2. Moving Parts: Used simple materials to make the head move and added lights for the eyes and a motor to make the jaw move.

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Electronics and Control

Getting It Moving:

1. Set up motors for the wheels and connected them to Arduino.
2. Wrote code to make the wheelchair go forward, backward, and turn.

Making the App:

1. Tool: Chose "MIT App Inventor" to create the app without needing to know a lot about programming.
2. Designing the App: First sketched how the app should look to make controlling the toy better.
3. Testing and Tweaking: Kept testing and fixing the app to make sure it worked well.

Powering It Up:

• Found a big 20V battery that could make the toy move on its own.

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Trying It Out and Adding Details

• Playtesting: Made sure the wheelchair could move around and be controlled with the phone.
• Adding the Scary Touches: Put "Jigsaw" on the wheelchair, got the eyes blinking and the jaw moving to look creepy.

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Final Touches

• Dressing It Up: Covered "Jigsaw" in a black cloth to look more mysterious.
• Final App Controls: Made sure the app could move the toy, control the eyes, and move the jaw.
• Battery Solutions: Made the battery easy to take out and recharge.

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Wrapping Up

We ended up with a toy that's not just a toy but also the creepy host of a game. This project showed us how to use Arduino to bring a game to life in a fun and tech-savvy way.

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