1. Home
  2. General Electronics
  3. designing a complex circuit

designing a complex circuit

My name is James Wilson and I am a student at Hawarden High school. I am currently studying systems and control and am writing to you in request of aid. My task is to design and make a contestant station for a board game. I have carried out a questionnaire, which has suggested that board games and quizzes would benefit from this product. I would like the product to support 2 to 3 separate teams each with there own panel and a button to press to indicate to the questioner they think they know the answer. I am unsure of many factors and this is where I politely request assistance. I would be very grateful if you could find the time to supply me with any information on the following;

I. The features my contestant station should include (output).

II. Whether a questioner will require a panel, what might it include?

III. How many teams should the product support?

IV. Is styling important? Which styles are most successful? Is gender important?

V. Should my product be battery or mains powered? Is this important?

Thanks again for any help provided!

Reply to
scriptkiddy
Loading thread data ...

You questions are a bit vague since you have not specified the functionality of the system, but I'll give it my best shot.

I would assume that there would be some positive feedback mechanism to indicate that the team has entered something. Perhaps an audible beep, or a light.

From your limited discussion of the requirements, I would assume that all that it would need would be a push button and some sort or feedback signal.

You specifiied three. Then three separate boxes it is.

You're joking of course, on both of these questions.

Who cares, so long as it runs reliably, although use of an a.c. powered supply is probably your best bet.

Reply to
Harry Conover

Harry Conover wrote: "> You're joking of course, on both of these questions.

Actually, I don't think the guy was joking. I think that he was just listing the things his teacher told him to consider.... He came here asking because he doesn't feel creative enough to answer the questions for himself, but he wants a really impressive project so he'll get an A.

James, the questioner should have at least two buttons and a light. The first button is the reset button which clears all inputs and makes the system ready to accept contestant input for the next question. The second button should be for those times when a contestant gives the wrong answer. Pressing it should make the indicator move to the team who was next in line, unless there is no-one else who pushed their button, in which case it should reset the system too. The light should be lit whenever the system is in the reset state. It should go out as soon as the first contestant pushes his/her button. Each contestant panel needs a single button and a light to indicate when they should give their answer.

Since your teacher asked whether styling is important, it must be! He/she obviously wants you to pretty up the thing. And he wants you to consider whether that styling should be male oriented, (race cars and space ships in blue), female oriented, (flowers and ribbons in pink), or neutral, (earth tones, abstract). The answer to this would be determined by the identity of the contestants. If all male, then male oriented, etc... A gender oriented style would be less successful for a mixed group of contestants, and not successful at all for a wrong gender group of contestants. So if you don't know the gender of the contestants, go with neutral... If its for a science quiz game, it should be science fiction-y. If for a 4h question game, it should look like something you would find on a farm. Tailor it to the kind of question that will be asked and the gender group of the contestants.

Reply to
Joseph Hansen

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.